Kathmandu, Jan 21: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Deepak Khadka, has urged donor agencies to invest in hydropower sector.
Energy Minister Khadka held discussion with heads and representatives of donor agencies today to gather investment after a cabinet meeting held on December 31, 2024, passed the ‘Energy Development Roadmap-2081’ with an objective of producing 28,500 megawatt electricity within 2035 in Nepal.
Extending gratitude towards the donor agencies for their support in development of energy sector of Nepal, he urged for their continuous support in coming days. The Energy Minister shared that the Energy Development Roadmap would help forward economic prosperity transforming Nepal as regional energy centre and strengthening national and cross-border infrastructures.
It is the Roadmap of energy security, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, he mentioned, adding the Roadmap has given special attention in development of cross-border transmission line along with production.
Energy Minister Khadka expressed the belief that Upper Arun Hydroelectric Project, going to be constructed with financial support of the World Bank, Dudhkoshi Hydroelectric Project, to be constructed with Asian Development Bank’s aid, would be constructed on slated time.
He urged development partners, international diplomatic missions, international organisations and communities for the implementation of the Roadmap, prepared for country’s economic development.
Similarly, Secretary at the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, pointed out the need of support and cooperation of donor agencies to fulfill the goals of the Roadmap.
Sharing that there is challenging in production, transmission and distribution of power, he expressed the view that all should move ahead together to address the challenges. Chairman of the Electricity Regulation Commission Dr Ram Prasad Dhital said that the Energy Development Roadmap is an important document for the development of Nepal’s energy sector. According to him, the development partner organisations have an important role in its implementation.
Senior energy expert at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Prabal Adhikari, said that 46.5 billion US dollars would be needed to meet the target set by the Energy Development Roadmap. He said that there would be no problem in meeting the target of power generation set by the government as 11,161 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed and 12,968 MW power (PPA) is in the process of completion.
Director General of the Department of Electricity Development, Nabin Raj Singh, stressed the need for a huge budget to implement the energy development roadmap, pointing out the need of cooperation from all sides to fulfill this.
Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kul Man Ghising said NEA has focused on the construction of reservoir-based projects to meet the target set by the Energy Development Roadmap. He expressed gratitude to the donor agencies for their support in Nepal’s power development sector.
Nawaraj Dhakal, executive director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center, said that the centre is going to take forward its programmes in the coming days by giving priority to the energy development roadmap.
President of the Independent Power Producers Association, Nepal (IPPAN) Ganesh Karki said that the private sector has full support to implement the Energy Development Roadmap as it is historic in the field of energy development of Nepal.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for Nepal, Arnaud Caichois, said donor agencies have been supporting Nepal’s energy sector development for a long time and pledged support in the coming days to meet the goals of the energy development roadmap set by the government.
He said such programmes would help improve the economy of South Asian countries.Besides the ADB, heads and representatives of the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ), US Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Norwegian Embassy and other donor agencies participated in the meeting.#nepal #energy #RSS
