BIMSTEC and Energy Security

Category
International Relations
Published
10th Mar, 2023

Context

Despite being abundant with resources and developed energy sector, BIMSTEC countries are not much advance in generation and utilisation to provide affordable energy access to all.

Status of energy access in BIMSTEC countries:

Bhutan has achieved 100 per cent energy access through off-grid energy sources.
Nepal has achieved 78 per cent of energy access, while Bangladesh achieved 95 per cent of energy access.
Myanmar reported its access to energy as 50 per cent in 2019.

Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand have achieved 100 per cent or near 100 per cent energy access.

BIMSTEC energy Centre (BEC):

India hosted the first meeting of Governing Board of BIMSTEC Energy Centre in February 27, 2023.

Energy Resources in the region

The BIMSTEC region encompasses vast energy resources, including:

331 billion tonnes of coal
718 million tonnes of oil
76 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas
386 GW of large hydropower
renewable energy of 1,359 GW potential

BIMSTEC Energy Centre is situated in Bengaluru, India.
It aims to create free-trade and power grid interconnectivity agreements, and a masterplan for transport connectivity in the Bay of Bengal region (adopted at the current summit).
Considering the current energy scenario in the region, the meeting recommended to add the additional following areas under the specialized Wings of BEC:

1. Cyber Security
2. Green Hydrogen
3. Energy Transition

In 2021, the initiative was reorganised into seven sectors.

About BIMSTEC:

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organisation.

BIMSTEC countries are home to 1.7 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.7 trillion.

Its members lie in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
Headquarter is situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Out of the 7 members, Five are from South Asia –

- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- India
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
Two are from Southeast Asia –

- Myanmar
- Thailand
BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.
It mainly aims to create an enabling environment for rapid economic development; accelerate social progress; and promote collaboration on matters of common interest in the region.
The ADB (Asian Development Bank) has become BIMSTEC's development partner since 2005, to undertake a study which is designed to help promote and improve transport infrastructure and logistic among the BIMSTEC countries.
So far, ADB has already finished the project so called BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistic Study (BTILS).