Preparation of Power Summit in the final stage

Kathmandu, Oct. 23

Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) has said that the preparation of the Power Summit 2019 was in the final stage and it was receiving overwhelming response from national and international participants.

The summit being organised on November 21 and 22 in Kathmandu, with the theme 'Powering the Asian Century', will take stock of the present situation and to look ahead to future possibilities of export and regional integration, said IPPAN.

This year the summit will focus on cross border electricity trading, energy markets, regional electricity market regulation, financing, inclusive and sustainable development of power projects, governing and facilitating energy projects, attracting investments, and will also feature project showcase to highlight current activities in the sector within and outside the nation.  

IPPAN is partnering with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Nepal Electricity Authority to organise the seventh edition of the summit. National Planning Commission and Hydroelectric Investment and Development Company are also supporting the event.

"As neighboring countries are key to regional energy connectivity and export, the seventh edition of the summit is being organised in association with the Embassy of India Kathmandu and Embassy of Bangladesh Kathmandu and will have participation from the two countries in numbers including China, Bhutan, Norway, Korea, Canada, Netherland, United Kingdom, USA, and Japan," said the organisers.

More than 700 participants are expected to take part in the event.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will inaugurate the summit. Government ministers, vice-chairman of the NPC and heads of other respective departments including Investment Board of Nepal and NEA and many national and international organisations will participate in the summit.

Director General-Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Director-Indian Energy Exchange Limited, India, and Asian ESG Advisory Regional Lead-International Finance Corporation will also participate in the summit.

"Besides, we have prominent speakers from PTC India Limited, Satlaj Jalvidyut Nigam Limited, NHPC India, Bangladesh Electricity Regulatory Commission, Bangladesh Power Development Board, GMR, and The Norwegian Energy Regulatory Authority," said IPPAN.

Besides the technical session, this year the organisers have planned the summit to facilitate business to business meeting which will allow different parties to engage business promotion.

It is expected that more than half a dozen agreements on power trade, environment and social best practices, and women in energy will be signed during the summit, said IPPAN.

Another major attraction of the event is customised visit to hydropower project site so that the interested participants get a real feel of energy development that is going on in the country.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 October 2019.