The Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the event through vide conferencing in Delhi while his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will be present at the Bheramara substation close to the border to receive the power flow.

This is will be an unique event after the proposed joint retreat ceremony by Border Security Force (BSF) of India and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti was put off as the Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde could not be present to meet his counterpart at the border due to important engagement in Delhi.

From October 5, the Indian public sector, NTPC Ltd will commence power supply to the Bangladesh Power Development Board under a government-to-government contract. This will be increased to 250 MW in November 2013 and a further 250 MW will be added by the end of 2013. The project could eventually be scaled up to allow 1,000 MW of power flows.

The high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line will link the eastern electrical grid of India to the western grid of Bangladesh. Testing of the Bheramara sub-station installations has been ongoing since early September. The HVDC interconnection allows better control over power flows and improved stability on the two grids.

This contract will allow Bangladesh to buy power from India more cheaply than buying it from rental plants in Bangladesh. The cross-border trading also enables the two countries to trade electricity based on variations in their seasonal and weekly demand.

The interconnection on the Bangladesh side comprises a 500 megawatts (MW) HVDC substation at Bheramara, about 27 kilometers in 400 kilovolt transmission lines from Bheramara to the Indian border and a link to the Bangladesh electricity grid.

The interconnection facility in Bangladesh was built with $199 million assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with a loan component of $112 million. The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited built and financed the infrastructure in India.

“This groundbreaking link will help provide urgently needed power to Bangladesh. More importantly, it is a key milestone for South Asia as it looks to set up a regional energy market to make the best use of its diverse and unevenly distributed energy resources,” said Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB’s South Asia Department.

According to ADB only about half of Bangladesh’s people have access to electricity, and those who do suffer from regular power outages lasting up to five hours a day in major cities. Expanding supply will help businesses and improve the delivery of essential services like education and healthcare. Buying electricity from India will also help gas-reliant Bangladesh diversify its energy sources and the link will later allow it to tap into energy resources from other parts of the region.

More cross-border energy links are currently being considered in South Asia, including on Bangladesh’s eastern borders. Such links, which already have support from South Asian governments, would promote greater trade and other cooperation within the region.