KATHMANDU, FEB 09 - 2013
Entrepreneurs and investors have
expressed interest in scaling up renewable energy technologies so as to
help the country achieve energy security.
During a programme
titled ‘Energy for All Investor Forum’ held here on Friday,
entrepreneurs and officials of banks and financial institutions
expressed their readiness to invest in innovative energy production
concepts and to expand the use of renewable energy to industrial units.
The
forum, participated by nine enterprises, 10 investors and 150
representatives from government and development partners, discussed
measures to scale up the existing conventional renewable energy
technologies that has particularly focused on providing electricity for
cooking and lightening purposes for households.
The forum was
organised by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), a
government entity working on promotion and development of renewable
energy technologies, in support from Asian Development Bank.
AEPC
Chief Executive Office Govind Pokharel said the sector has so far been
largely dependent on small-scale solutions undertaken by the government
such as providing grant and subsidies along with technical assistance.
“It
is high time to attract private enterprises and financial institutions
to upgrade the existing energy scenario and encourage investment,” he
said, adding that renewable energy should now be used for creating
economic opportunities through small-scale industries and other
enterprises.
So far, promotion, development and installation of
various renewable energy technologies such as micro/mini hydro projects,
solar power systems, wind, bio-gas and improved cooking stoves, among
others, are undertaken by the government in support from donor agencies
and developmental partners. However, these efforts have been limited to
providing energy for rural communities for cooking and lightening
purposes.
Stakeholders said despite huge potential and growing
interest from innovative entrepreneurs working in the sector, promotion
of relevant technologies, including solar power, has not been
satisfactory.
Meanwhile, enterprises, which have developed
innovative business models such as electricity generation from poultry
waste to bio-mass briquette production in large scale and mini-grids,
have shown interest to commercialise the technologies.
Sharawan
Pradhan from Gham Power Nepal, a private company working in the field of
solar energy system, said private enterprises were facing difficulties
due to the lack of proper government policies, poor investment climate
and lack of access to funding agencies. “There is need for boosting the
confidence of private entrepreneurs to achieve the goal of energy access
to all,” he added.
Manoj Goyal, chief executive officer of Clean
Energy Development Bank, and one of the panellists at the forum, said
banks and financial institutions were ready finance ‘commercially viable
and innovative’ plans. During the programme, various innovative
business models — ranging from generating electricity above 1MW from
poultry wastes to briquette industry and installation of mini-grids to
distribute and sell power collected from various energy sources — were
presented.
Source: The Kathmandu Post