KATHMANDU, DEC 17 - 2011
The country’s first mini wind-solar hybrid power system has been installed in Dhaubadi, Nawalparasi. Energy Minister Hem Raj Tater and State Minister for Energy Durga Devi Mahato on Friday inaugurated the system built with technical and financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The wind-solar hybrid system was installed as a pilot project under ADB’s regional technical assistance (RETA) for which the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) under the Ministry of Environment is the implementing agency in Nepal. The project is based on the energy systems planning approach and has installed two sets of 5 kW wind turbines complemented by a 2 kW peak solar photovoltaic panel to satisfy the village’s daily electricity demand of 43.6 kW hours.
Switching on the system, Tater said that villagers of Dhaubadi would be tremendously benefited by the project as it would transform the daily life of rural households. For about 50 households in this hill village, electricity from the mini-grid means less time and money spent on searching for firewood or travelling to the nearest town to buy costly kerosene.
Padam Bahadur Rana Magar, a resident of Dhaubadi, said, “Our lives will be a lot easier with access to electricity. The village’s access to communication and technology will increase through television, cell phone and computers thus improving our living standard.”
What makes the project special is that the ADB has selected Nepal as the pilot country for its small wind power initiative. “The lessons learned in Nepal on the deployment of small wind power systems in rural areas will be very useful in scaling up the system in Nepal and replicating it in other ADB member countries,” said S Hafeez Rahman, ADB’s Director General for South Asia.
According to ADB, Nepal’s chronic energy shortage, its abundant wind and solar resources, and most importantly, the strong government commitment toward a low-carbon economy have led it to select Nepal as the first pilot country for ADB’s small wind power initiative.
Environment Secretary Krishna Gyawali asked the ADB to extend further help in emulating and replicating such projects in other rural areas of Nepal as the accomplishment of this project has demonstrated its technical and financial viability.
Source: Kantipur
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