Kathmandu, April 18: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said the government of Nepal recognizes the energy sector as the one that can lead the country to develop a strong base for prosperity.
He also stressed that green energy
will be both a means and also a product that will enable Nepal to make the
transition to a strong economy.
Addressing the Power Summit 2023
that kicked off here today, he said the government of Nepal takes great
pride in announcing to the world that Nepal today generates more power than it
consumes seasonally.
The Power Summit 2023 is organized
jointly by the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal and the
Government of Nepal. The theme of the Power Summit is, 'Broadening Green Energy
Markets.'
"Due to the accelerated pace of
development of hydropower projects both from IPPs and state utilities, we
anticipate to be a net exporter of electricity by 2025 without any need to
import even in the dry season," the PM said adding that the Power Summit
in Kathmandu is to share and learn from experiences from Nepal and abroad on
the best strategy to “Broaden the markets for our green energy.”
Saying many Nepalese still do not
have access to green energy, he pointed out that Nepal must continue to expand
the grid as well as adopt off-grid technologies to make electricity available
to all people of the country.
"We also know that many
industrial demands are ready to be created if we can expand transmission and
distribution lines and ensure a stable power supply," PM Dahal said,
adding, "We all should understand that the use of generated electricity in
our own domestic market is our key priority as we aspire to be economically
prosperous."
Until we build enough
infrastructures to utilize the generated electricity internally, the PM viewed,
we need to export it to protect the huge investments already incurred in the
generation side.
He furthermore said that it is of
equal importance, for economic reasons, to engage ourselves in the cross-border
power trade in view of utilizing cheap and diverse resources existing in the
region and sub-region.
Stating that while the export of
surplus energy from Nepal needs to be on the table, he highlighted four sectors
that can consume electricity heavily and increase the per capita consumption.
In his view, this will also mitigate Nepal's dependency on imported fossil
fuels and huge trade deficit.
Among the four sectors highlighted
by the PM are: agriculture, industries that still rely on diesel and coal as
well as biomass that pollute our environment, cooking and transportation.
He said while over 65 per cent of
Nepalese are engaged in agriculture, it contributes less than a quarter of our
GDP and has a huge potential for growth. This growth potential should be
powered by green energy.
Reiterating that the Government of
Nepal will work to ensure that industries across Nepal have access to green
energy priced at competitive rates, the Prime Minister said, "If we can
get all Nepalis to cook with green energy, it will contribute to protecting our
forests, and also greatly reduce our dependence on imported LPG."
He added that the import of
vehicles may continue but we can make a transition to electric modes of
transport so that our import of fossil fuels declines and this contributes to
mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change.
He believed that these issues will
be discussed during the power summit.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister
invited IPPAN to join hands with the Government and work together to come up
with a clear demand development policy that can help broaden the market for
Nepal’s green energy.
"Following the historical
political changes that have taken place in Nepal, the aspirations to see large-scale economic development has also risen among the people of Nepal," he
said, adding "Nepal has been at the forefront in its efforts to conserve
our rich biodiversity heritage and is a signatory to all treaties related to
the global response to climate change."
Stating that Nepal has a very clear
opportunity to attain the goal of becoming net zero by 2045, PM Dahal said,
"Given that we are endowed with enormous hydro and solar power potential,
we can not only fulfil our international commitment of transition to clean energy
but also can support our neighbouring countries to meet their emission
reduction targets by exporting our electricity."
Minister for Energy, Water
Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet said the government and the
private sector were focused on the qualitative development and transformation
of the energy sector through collaboration.
He mentioned that the government is
moving ahead with a long-term vision of exploring the international market for
power and increased domestic consumption.
The Power Summit 2023 will run till
Wednesday. Taking part in the event are over 300 representatives from more than
30 countries including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
High officials of the Ministry of
Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, companies related to power trade, banks
and financial institutions, power extension and distribution companies and
consultants.
This summit brings an opportunity to meet and get exposure to 800+ participants from all over the world viz. governments, energy producers, traders, investors, policymakers, regulators, academics, and business people- all concerning the energy sectors.
Discussions will be held in 15
different sessions on Nepal's power trade, transmission infrastructure,
hydropower demand, technology, innovation, inter-country power trade and
related topics.
The Ministry is the patron of the
Power Summit while the Investment Board Nepal is its co-organizer. (RSS)