Kathmandu, Feb. 23
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Shakta
Bahadur Basnet, has said that the reliance on fossil fuel-based energy
production, coupled with the escalating fuel and energy prices, has been
placing an enormous burden on climate and environment of the South Asia region.
"This unfolding scenario paints a bleak picture of our
world, with the looming threat of increasingly frequent climate-induced
disasters," he said while speaking at a workshop on 'Energy Transition for
Economic Prosperity' jointly organised by the Alternative Energy Promotion
Centre (AEPC) and Renewable World (RW) in Lalitpur on Friday.
According to him, these challenges could only be averted
through robust action plans. Nepal recognizes the urgent need for a clean
energy transition in our energy sectors, as reflected in its policy roadmaps,
added Minister Basnet.
"To strike a harmonious balance in energy production
and consumption, we have updated our energy sector roadmap and action plans as
per the existing realities and bilateral and multilateral agreements" he
said.
Nepal's primary focus is to generate around 28,000 MW of
power in the next 12 years, with a significant emphasis on hydropower and other
renewable sources.
In line with this, the country has developed plans to
upgrade our transmission and distribution infrastructure to facilitate power
flow from generators to consumers effectively. This endeavor is essential to
meet the growing domestic and regional demands, stated Minister Basnet and
added, "Our unwavering commitment extends to the development of
sustainable and climate-resilient energy infrastructures."
According to him, to boost energy transition for economic prosperity,
the Government of Nepal encourages the investment in electricity generation,
transmission, distribution and trade. Additionally, it promotes research and
development, facilitates public-private partnerships and has streamlined
regulatory frameworks.
Minister Basnet informed that the government has been
focusing on five interlinked strategic directions for renewable energy
development in the country that include transformational energy access,
up-scaling of technologies, grid interconnection of renewable energy systems,
increasing share of renewable energy in the national energy mix, and
sustainability of energy systems.
"We have been working on reforms in energy policies to
attract more private sector investment and create conducive environment for
sustainable energy development," he added.
Secretary of the Ministey of Energy, Water Resources and
Irrigation (MoEWRI), Sushil Chandra Tiwari, has said that renewable energy
is important to complement and replace other energy sources.
Likewise, Nawa Raj Dhakal, Executive Director of the AEPC,
stressed on transmission efficiency and said that access and reliability of
energy is crucial for development and economic prosperity.
Al Rechardson, Global Programme Director of RW, said that renewable
energy has greatly supported in agriculture, job creation and food
security.
"Other key areas like health and education also depend
on the availability of renewable energy, and allows more time to people to
perform other creative and family works," she said.
According to Richardson, renewable energy has also supported
in the operation of the early warning system for disasters and floods in remote
areas.
Thakur Thapa, Country Director of RW, said that renewable
energy has helped in facilitating and transforming work and lives of people
across the country.
He said that Nepal's second Nationally Determined
Contribution 2020 targets to expand clean energy alternatives. Meanwhile,
energy transition is crucial to achieve the target of net-zero world by 2050,
Thapa said.
Guna Raj Dhakal, Chairperson of Renewable Energy
Confederation of Nepal, said that it's unfortunate that the government has
slashed the budget to the renewable energy to one-third while the need demanded
it to be doubled, at least.
The renewable energy non only helps in mitigating various
crises including that induced by climate change but also supports in creating
jobs and economic opportunities, he said.
Dhakal stressed on the need to build large scale biogas
production plants in urban centres, and optimum use of solar and hydropower
potential to assure quality energy to people.
Net metering should be promoted and there should be a good price
offer to energy alternatives, he said.
Similarly, Bhagwan Shrestha, Chairperson of the Association
of International NGOs in Nepal, said that policy interventions are needed to
promote the development of alternative energy so that the agenda 2030 of leaving
no one behind as well as clean and green development could be achieved.
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