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Is solar the answer for Nepal’s energy deficit?

Published 02nd November 2010 - 1 comments - 1801 views -

Nepal depends heavily on oil and natural gas imports to satisfy its growing energy need. The country has potential to be energy exporter, if its hydro-power sector could be exploited to its fullest potential. But because of various issues-mainly technical difficulties and lack of stable government; Nepal;s hydro-power potential remains under utilized.

For last couple of years, Nepal has been facing acute energy shortage, forcing the state run Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to resort to frequent power cuts to stretch out the limited supply. The country imports all its oil and natural gas through neighboring India. State run Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is the agency responsible for handling the imports and distributing oil through local dealers. NOC is chronically corrupt and mismanaged institution operating under huge losses-even if it has no competition when it comes to importing oil and natural gas into Nepal.

Developing local energy sources and investing alternative energy is the only way for Nepal to be energy independent and fill the energy deficit.

Bio gas projects and wind turbines have produced some success in villages in various parts of the country. But solar remains by far the most promising one.

Southern Nepal could be the place for solar power harnessing projects in Nepal; as the region gets plenty of sunlight and is mostly flat terrain-making it easier to install energy distribution infrastructure. As Southern Nepal is developed as solar energy focal point, there is also a possibility to push for energy independence at the local level. Installing solar panels on roof tops, encouraging green building designs and also providing deep discounts on solar panels could bring more people to join in

Nepal's private sector and also the government has made encouraging strides on developing alternative energy sources in the country.

 

  • Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) is a "Government institution established on November 3, 1996 under the then Ministry of Science and Technology with the objective of developing and promoting renewable/alternative energy technologies in Nepal. Currently, it is under Ministry of Environment. It functions independently, and has a nine member board with representatives from government sector, industry sector and non-governmental organizations." AEPC's projects include-developing small scale hydro-power plants, solar,wind and biomass energy, geothermal energy and also improved water mills.

Number of international donor agencies support AEPC's efforts ,including the USAID and the Asian Development Bank(ADB).

In the private sector, there are numerous projects focused on developing alternative energy sources in Nepal. Here is a short list, which by no means is complete:

 

 

Embassy of Denmark in Nepal also has alternative energy development project, along with UNDP and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Energy deficient developing nations can provide a huge boost to their economy and also improve standard of living by investing in alternative and renewable energy sources. Nepal has made some progress in being energy independent, but here is still a long way ahead.

 

Category: Alternative Energies, | Tags:



Comments

Sandeep on 04th November 2010:

Great post - we need more thinking and writing like this.

Just wanted to let you that we started our company Gham Power ( http://www.ghampower.com ) this year (with US collaboration) to address this very issue, mainly focusing on the urban areas since the load-shedding’s worst impact on productivity and the nation’s GDP is in urban areas where people/organizations can’t function like they used to. As you know, the typical power backup options in Nepal are either diesel generators or generic inverter-battery solutions, both of which are not sustainable in the long run.

To address this, we ensure that we provide solar power backup at costs same or less than both these options, and the only way we can do that is to first ensure that we install a quality system that is going to last for a long time without problems, and second we need to provide long-term financing to avoid the high upfront costs of installing solar.

That’s why we partnered with US-based manufacturers to get high-quality panels, inverters, charge controllers etc. and design our systems to meet highest quality standards. Because of this, we are the only company in Nepal that provides a 5-year warranty on the entire system including the batteries (solar panels have a 25-year warranty). Furthermore, we partnered with Clean Energy Development bank of Nepal to provide a no-hassle 5-year financing for the system WITHOUT having to put a collateral. This way, people can install solar for as low as Rs 2,900 (or USD 40) per month.

You may also want to check out this post on our blog where we talk about the potential of solar in Nepal - http://ghampower.com/2010/nepal-gets-2-to-3-times-solar-energy-than-world-solar-leader-germany/

Despite the potential of solar in Nepal, the key issue is raising awareness so that people and organizations realize that solar is actually a viable solution that provide large scale power to run heavy appliances and that the PV technology has nothing to do with heat, so that in winter months when load-shedding is at its worst, the system keeps producing electricity as designed despite of the cold temperature (as long as their is visible light)

At any rate, we look forward to your continuing to write about scope of solar in Nepal and help raise awareness.

Sandeep

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