Summary Report Nepal Word FINAL - UN-OHRLLSunohrlls.org/.../Summary-Report-Nepal-Word_FINAL.pdf · Country Office in Nepal. The meeting was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 22 to 23

SUMMARY REPORT

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www.unohrlls.org /UNOHRLLS @UNOHRLLS

Summary Report of the

Regional Meeting on Sustainable Energy

for Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3

Opening Session .................................................................................................................. 4

Session 1 - Setting the scene - Sustainable energy investment plans in national

development strategies ...................................................................................................... 7

Session 2 – Financing initiatives and business plans that work .......................................... 9

Business to Business dialogue .......................................................................................... 11

Session 3 – Benefitting from global and regional energy initiatives ................................ 12

Session 4 – Project preparation skills ............................................................................... 14

Closing session .................................................................................................................. 17

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Introduction

The Regional Meeting on Sustainable Energy for

Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries was

organized jointly by the Office of the High

Representative for Least Developed Countries,

Landlocked Developing Countries and Small

Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the

Government of Nepal, with support from UNDP

Country Office in Nepal. The meeting was held

in Kathmandu, Nepal from 22 to 23 of March

2017. The meeting convened approximately 140

participants including senior officials and energy

experts from the Asia-Pacific least developed

countries, UN system, regional organisations,

development banks, development partners, and

selected private sector partners from both the

energy and investment sector, as well as

relevant foundations and civil society

representatives.

Aiming to accelerate the implementation of the

Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least

Developed Countries, especially in reaching the

target on energy, while building synergies with

Sustainable Development Goal 7, the Regional

Meeting on Sustainable Energy convened LDC

senior officials and energy experts to build

national leadership in the energy sector and

create stronger multi-stakeholder partnerships

to improve access to finance. During the

meeting, financing models and initiatives that

have worked and can accelerate the energy

transition in LDCs were presented. Many lessons

learnt and best practices were shared in this

regard. Also, experiences were shared on

preparing investment prospectuses and how to

enhance project development capacities in

LDCs.

The Regional Meeting provided an opportunity

to share experiences and best practices with

representatives from countries facing similar

development challenges. Therefore, the

substantive sessions discussed and offered

practical, workable solutions on financing

sustainable energy in the least developed

countries. These solutions were discussed in the

regional context to further advance the creation

of an enabling environment for sustainable

energy through cross-sectorial policy

frameworks and end-to-end business models.

This report summarizes the discussions that

took place over the two-day meeting. Detailed

presentations made during the meeting can be

accessed at http://unohrlls.org/event/regional-

meeting-asia-pacific-ldcs-sustainable-energy/.

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Opening Session

The opening session was chaired by Hon’ble Dr.

Min Bahadur Shrestha, Vice-Chairman, National

Planning Commission, Government of Nepal and

the opening remarks were provided by:

H.E. Mr. Shanker Das Bairagi, Foreign

Secretary of Nepal

Hon’ble Mr. Janardan Sharma, Minister of

Energy, Government of Nepal

Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under-

Secretary-General and High Representative,

UN-OHRLLS

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, Chief, Regional

Policy and Programme, UNDP Regional Hub

Mr. K.M. Abdus Salam, Additional Secretary,

Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral

Resources, Bangladesh, Representative of

the Chair of the LDC group

H.E. Mrs. Rensje Teerink, Ambassador,

European Union

H.E. Mr. Shanker Das Bairagi, Foreign Secretary

of Nepal, expressed his appreciation to the UN-

OHRLLS for close collaboration in co-hosting this

meeting with the Government of Nepal, and

welcomed all the delegates and representatives

to Kathmandu.

He underlined that the acute energy gap

remains a constraint for the development in

LDCs. He further stressed that LDCs lack

sufficient finance and appropriate technology to

accelerate the pace of energy development in a

required speed, quality and quantity. Enhanced

solidarity, cooperation and partnership between

the LDCs and development partners, is essential

to fill the resources and technology gap in

attaining the goals.

Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, High

Representative, OHRLLS, expressed

appreciation to the Government and people of

Nepal for hosting the Regional Meeting and

welcomed all senior officials from Asia-Pacific

LDCs, development partners, representatives of

the private sector and civil society, international

organisations and development banks to the

meeting.

Mr. Acharya underlined that energy is included

in the eight priority areas for action in the

Istanbul Programme of Action and the far-

reaching impacts of energy poverty at all levels

of the societies hinder development across

sectors. Yet, the majority of the Asia-Pacific

LDCs are endowed with vast reserves of

renewable energy resources and present a great

potential for rapid energy transition. This,

together with new technologies, offer many

new solutions for gaining energy access.

However, access to finance remains a key

challenge for LDCs. Energy investment plans can

play a critical role in paving the way forward

through aiming at increasing the viability of

energy investments, lowering the associated

risks and making the initiatives more

“bankable.” This will also contribute to

attracting finance from various sources: private

and public, domestic and international.

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, Chief, Regional Policy

and Programme, UNDP, highlighted the key

energy related challenges of LDCs and that in

terms of energy poverty, LDCs in Asia-Pacific are

disproportionately impacted. She also

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highlighted the needs for political commitment

and action for energy access at both global and

national levels, and how the UN and UNDP are

supporting these efforts.

She noted that currently, Asia-Pacific cities

generate over 80 per cent of the region’s GDP,

70-80 per cent of its energy, and create over 75

per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions.

Consumption and production patterns are

becoming increasingly unsustainable, with Asia-

Pacific estimated to represent 63 per cent of

global natural resource use. She also stated that

it is critical to involve the private sector more

actively to invest in profitable projects with

social and environmental impact through a

mixture of loans and equity and noted that

UNDP has been working on a platform that

brings together investors and successful SMEs

that are ready for scaling-up their work to make

a positive social and environmental contribution

on the ground.

Ms. Wiesen-Antin also discussed graduation

from the LDC category. Energy access is a key

for developing a strong private sector, creating

more and better jobs and sustaining economic

growth, and is therefore closely linked to the

graduation efforts of LDCs. She underlined that

graduation is an important step for these

countries’ development process and efforts to

graduate will create better lives for people

through various interventions such as improving

basic services like healthcare and education for

all.

Mrs. Rensje Teerink, Ambassador, European

Union, underlined that the European Union has

been at the forefront of international efforts to

reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses by

reducing fossil fuel energy consumption through

the adoption and promotion of renewable

energy technologies. In 2015, the European

Union increased its climate finance contribution

by more than 20 per cent.

She also mentioned that the EU has established

a number of thematic instruments to tackle

issues related to energy, environment and

climate change. One of the instruments is called

Electrify, aims to address the lack of access to

clean, reliable and affordable electricity and

energy services. Additionally, there is an

ongoing call for proposals for women and

sustainable energy, in order to promote women

entrepreneurship and economic empowerment

in the sustainable energy sector.

Mr. K.M. Abdus Salam, Additional Secretary,

Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral

Resources, Bangladesh, Representative of the

Chair of the LDC group, underlined that only 34

per cent of the LDC population has access to

electricity, and therefore it will be a big

challenge to provide access to energy to more

than 600 million people in LDCs before 2030.

Asia-Pacific LDCs have improved development in

the energy sector but they still have a long way

to go. Access to energy should not be seen as an

end goal in itself but also to support the

achievement of the other goals of the 2030

Agenda. He stressed that access to energy does

not only bring lights and cooking fuels to the

households, it leverages many economic

activities that accelerate employment creation,

social and economic development. Access to

renewable energy can hugely diminish

greenhouse gas emissions.

He elaborated that most of the renewable

energy technologies are patented by developed

countries and enterprises. Therefore, LDCs need

the support of development partners in

accessing modern energy technologies, on a

highly concessional and preferential basis. He

also underlined that the LDCs remain hopeful

that the Technology Bank for LDCs would play a

catalytic role in this regard.

Hon’ble Mr. Janardan Sharma, Minister of

Energy, Government of Nepal, stressed that

energy is the major catalyst for the economic

development of Nepal and that the

development of the energy sector is highly

prioritized in the national plans. He also

mentioned the efforts for the development of

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hydropower sector via government, private and

community investments along with foreign

investments and underlined that in order to

become self-sufficient in energy generation, it is

imperative to execute small, medium and large

hydropower projects. The total installed

capacity has reached 908 MW whereas the

access to grid electricity has reached 74 per cent

of the total population. Additionally, he stated

that in the era of globalization, the significance

of foreign investment for the infrastructural

development can not be emphasized enough.

Hon’ble Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha, Vice-

Chairman, National Planning Commission,

Government of Nepal, underlined the high

demand of energy, and the importance to

energy access not only to the households, but

also to the industrial sector to accelerate

economic growth. Access to energy is a priority

of Nepal, and therefore the implementation of

the energy efficiency program and filling the

investment gap to overcome the challenges is of

high importance.

The Vice-Chairman also noted the importance of

private sector participation in order to enhance

access to sustainable energy. Business models

should be viable from a private sector

perspective and sustainable from a government

perspective. One of the key challenges remains

access to energy for people in rural areas and

poor families, including affordability.

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Session 1 - Setting the scene -

Sustainable energy

investment plans in national

development strategies

This session discussed the main challenges in

accessing finance for accelerating energy

transition, scaling-up the current initiatives and

the role of national sustainable energy

investment plans in energy transition. In

particular, the session focused on main

challenges in preparing investment

prospectuses and how their development can

kick start the energy transition, by analysing the

investment requirements and identifying

potential financing routes.

UN-OHRLLS provided an update on the energy

access situation in Asia-Pacific LDCs and the

progress made to meet the Sustainable Energy

for All goals by 2030. In 2012, around 34 per

cent of the population in LDCs had access to

electricity. There is a huge gap between LDCs

and the rest of the world and therefore it is

critical to intensify efforts in making energy

available for all and addressing the huge gaps. In

2012, 90 per cent of the urban population and

44 per cent of the rural population had access to

electricity in the Asia-Pacific LDC's. Access to

electricity in the 13 Asia-Pacific LDCs increased

slightly, from 52.8 per cent of the population

having access in 2010, to 56.2 per cent in 2012.

From 2010 to 2012, energy access grew 3.2 per

cent annually on average in these countries. The

rate of growth has been considerably higher for

the rural population compared to the urban

population (5.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent,

respectively).

In the following presentation, the

representative of Lao PDR highlighted that from

1995 to 2005, energy access gradually

increased, which sharply accelerated from 2010

onwards. As a result, it is estimated that

currently 92 per cent of households have access

to energy in Lao PDR.

The main challenges of power development in

Lao PDR include providing good incentives for

private equity, adopting market economy and

inclusion of rural development within

hydropower projects. Additionally, the

representative underlined the government’s

strong commitment to the targets laid out in the

power sector policy since 1990, which focuses

on private sector participation and the

development of hydropower for export, and is

looking to increase the export of hydropower,

which is set to be 9000 MW by 2030.

The Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Energy of

Nepal highlighted investment opportunities.

Several prospective projects for investments for

transmission and generation throughout Nepal

were presented, demonstrating the resource

base and potentials of the power sector in

Nepal. The guiding principles for electricity

sector reform were discussed in detail, including

adoption of specific generation mix in Nepal

Power System (Storage: 40-50 %, PROR : 15-

20%, ROR : 25-30%, Other Sources : 5-10%).

The representative of Tuvalu presented the

current challenges as well as the National

Energy Policy. Tuvalu has a 98 per cent

electricity access rate, and total electricity costs

of USD 0.79 kWh, and average fuel costs of USD

0.59 kWh. All fuel is imported into the country.

In 2008, about 98 per cent of Tuvalu’s electricity

generation was diesel based. Therefore, power

costs are very sensitive to an increase in fuel

price making the high dependency on costly

imported fuel one of the key challenges for

Tuvalu. Some other challenges are high

maintenance costs of generation and high cost

for power infrastructure.

Further, it was highlighted that Tuvalu’s

National Energy Policy (NEP) is a fifteen-year

framework to 2024 and has the aim to reinforce

energy security by adopting sustainable energy

systems. The NEP announced the Government

of Tuvalu’s goal of using 100 per cent renewable

energy by 2020. In 2015, the EU funded and

completed installation of 202 kW of solar,

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batteries ancillary on three of the outer islands

of Tuvalu. Also in 2015, the Government of New

Zealand funded and completed the installation

of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects on the

remaining four outer islands with 1,030 kW of

solar PV, batteries and ancillary.

Tuvalu has integrated its sustainable energy

investment prospectus into its national

development plan. Yet, the stringent criteria and

complicated application process set by some of

the development partners to access finance as

well as the lack of information and knowledge

on the types of finance available for a country

like Tuvalu, which is isolated and with high

communication and transaction costs, hinder

accessing finance.

The representative of Bhutan presented the

energy related policies of Bhutan and discussed

challenges in access, renewables and efficiency.

The total domestic energy supply that was

650,220 TOE in 2014, 72 per cent of the energy

supplied consisted out of coal, biomass and

petroleum and 28 per cent electrical. Biomass

dominates the sector with 36 per cent. The

Rapid Assessment and Gap Analysis (RAGA)

carried out in 2012 recommended that Bhutan

should have a policy to reduce the biomass

dependency and work on capacity building for

the energy and private sectors and establish a

detailed policy on energy efficiency. Also the

main challenges faced by Bhutan are the capital

intensity, people’s concept on renewable energy

and the low rate of repayment.

During the interactive dialogue, mapping of

renewable energy resources was discussed, as it

can be beneficial for the LDCs to develop

renewable energy master plans and to prepare

feasibility studies on the renewable sources of

energy. LDCs’ dependency on the support from

regional and international organizations in the

energy sector was discussed. The importance of

exploring all the available sources and preparing

a good environment for investment and

regulatory implementation was highlighted.

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Session 2 – Financing

initiatives and business plans

that work

Least developed countries rarely benefit from

larger financing schemes to the same extent

that developing countries do because of the

scale, lack of substantial local investment and

institutional capacity constraints. Therefore,

session 2 explored the financing initiatives and

business plans that have been successful in

bringing transformation in the energy sector of

LDCs or other developing countries and

discussed how these initiatives can be scaled up

to achieve rapid energy transition.

Key questions discussed in this session included

how the current initiatives that have worked can

be scaled up and be replicated, what innovative

financing mechanisms have been successful in

the Asia-Pacific LDCs and which ones have been

the most practical and thirdly, what have been

the challenges and barriers in engaging other

sectors, such as the private sector and NGOs, in

these initiatives.

The representative of the Asian Development

Bank (ADB) began by presenting the priorities of

ADB’s Energy Policy focusing on promotion of

clean energy, maximizing access to energy and

policy reform in energy sector. ADB’s

electrification activities aim to increase

investment in energy access projects and to

reach 200 million people by 2020 Energy for All.

ADB shared examples of successful grid and off-

grid projects during the presentation. One

successful example provided was an on-grid

electrification project in Afghanistan; a power

transmission and distribution project with a USD

50 million loan / grant. The project was set up to

enhance grid power access to new consumers,

mostly the poor. The project design was

complex as the project was geographically

scattered with limited accessibility and

confronted with delays and cost increases due

to security concerns. Despite the challenges, the

outcome has been very positive due to a well-

designed project framework.

Off-grid interventions are often needed in order

to reach people in difficult geographical and

remote areas. The project development facility

of the ADB incubates energy access business

models from start-up to sustainability and helps

to refine start-ups into bankable investment

opportunities. One of the innovative business

models piloted by ADB is off-grid electrification

project in Nepal. This solar mini-grid project

placed in rural communities has a strong

business model that brings together the private

sector, community and a local bank and is based

on aggregating three dispersed, remote villages

into one larger project. The project also trained

locals for operations and maintenance work and

benefits of innovative technologies including

pre-paid metering/mobile payment.

The Founder and Chairman of the Bright Green

Energy Foundation discussed the experience of

Bangladesh in scaling up the use of solar home

systems. The innovative monthly instalment

financial model has led the Solar Home System

(SHS) programme to demonstrate a rapid

expansion in solar power in Bangladesh in the

past 20 years. Today, 15 per cent people of

Bangladesh use solar home systems as main

energy source. The challenges faced in

Bangladesh included how to create an attractive

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financial model to benefit end users and

investors, a financial policy guideline and

involvement of national banks, awareness

among the local schedule banks about clean

energy and platforms for enhanced

participation.

In order to enhance local and regional capital

markets, Bangladesh will need a policy

framework and involvement from international

donor agencies. The national financial model

through the national bank should have low or

no interest rate, a grant or subsidy incentives,

long payback period and local commercial or

schedule bank support.

Additionally, the representative of the Nepal

Electricity Authority presented grid solutions for

energy access for all and the importance of

hydroelectricity in Nepal’s energy sector. He

noted that electricity use is increasing; however

there are still large parts which are not served

by electricity yet. In Nepal, grid electricity is

served to 60 per cent of the population and off-

grid 15 per cent of the population. It was

highlighted that grid expansion is targeted

towards large loads and generators. It was

suggested to change the planning of both off-

grid and on-grid sides to make it more

sustainable. As a solution, grid planning should

look for connecting ways to off-grid for example

through inter-connection of clusters of small

power plants in a mini-grid ready for

connectivity with grid.

The representative also discussed the financial

initiative called Community Electricity User

Groups (CEUGs), which represents a growing

network of users in Nepal. This initiative,

offering subsidized distribution of electricity of

CEUGs in decentralised rural electrification, has

enabled the expansion of rural networks. From

the various experiences in Nepal on rapid grid

extension, the main lessons learnt circle around

involving community and using top-down

approach of grid-planning coordinate with

bottom-up approach to identify/prioritize and

involve private sector developers and/or allow

the use of ‘build transfer’ model for rapid

expansion of main grid.

Furthermore, the Self Employed Women’s

Association (SEWA) presented its methodology

for energy access for the poor, how solar energy

can reduce poverty and improve the lives and

livelihoods. The methodology implemented for

energy access consist of a bottom up approach,

customised energy products and services,

tailored finance models and monitoring and

evaluation. For example, with the support of

SEWA salt farmers switched from diesel pumps

to solar pumps, which enables farmers to create

savings to build income generating assets and

end the cycle of poverty.

Some of the challenges in promoting sustainable

energy initiatives are that the poor cannot

afford the high upfront costs of clean energy

products, the low quality of products and the

fact that banks tend to shy away from lending to

the poor. Some of the solutions that SEWA has

offered include establishing linkages between its

members and banks for accessing affordable

finance, training women to deliver maintenance

service, bring manufacturers and banks together

in a programmatic manner and to require high

quality through certifications and sales

warranty.

The Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihood

(RERL) program highlighted financing

mechanisms and instruments for RE projects,

issues and challenges in RE financing in Nepal

and strategies for unlocking private finance. The

majority of the funds in RE in Nepal come from

subsidies, even though subsidies only cover a

part of the costs due to the high upfront costs.

Tools for unlocking domestic finance were also

discussed, such as preparing bankable projects,

timely completion and quality work and

construction initiation only after financial

closure. With regards to technical assistance, for

example the Alternative Energy Promotion

centre (AEPC) and RERL initiatives provide

assistance, for example, in preparation of

business plans and vendor financing manuals.

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Business to Business dialogue

A business to business dialogue was organised

at the end of the first day to allow for an

exchange of experiences of the private sector in

developing sustainable energy projects. The

dialogue focused on what financing mechanism

and business models have proven to be

effective in the countries where they are

operating. In the Business to Business dialogue,

the following speakers participated: Mr. Moin

from the Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy, Mr.

Rauwerda from DNV GL, Ms. Adhikari from

Empower Generation, Mr. Pashupati from

Independent Power Producers’ Association, and

a representative of CNI and a representative of

FNCCI.

Some of the key topics discussed during the

business to business dialogue include that even

if projects do not seem viable, external actors

like the World Bank can assist in making them

viable. It was underlined that governments will

need to facilitate the involvement of these types

of external actors much more. Additionally,

emphasis was put on the importance of

diversification, enhancing skills and improving

efficiency in order to make ventures sustainable

in the long-run. It was also discussed that

investors are looking for big, long-term projects,

provided that political risks are mitigated.

Investors will need a sense of security, therefore

it is important to standardize and organize new

projects well to mitigate risks.

The importance of not forgetting the social

enterprises and small poor households, and the

large networks of rural communities, who are

still off-grid and do not have access to basic

energy, was highlighted. Methods how the

government could assist social enterprises, such

as soft loan systems, were underlined.

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Session 3 – Benefitting from

global and regional energy

initiatives

The third session of the Regional Meeting of the

Asia-Pacific LDCs on Sustainable Energy

provided a wide array of perspectives,

approaches and case studies on energy

initiatives at the regional and global levels.

The representative of UN Environment

discussed the initiative called United for

Efficiency (U4E) – launched in 2014 by the

UNEP, UNDP and other organizations – which

aims to promote energy efficiency in the lighting

and appliance sectors by promoting successful

market transformations, and also supporting

minimum energy performance standards and

environmentally sound life-cycle management.

Also covered was the Climate Technology

Centre and Network (CTCN), which acts as the

operational organization of the UNFCCC

Technology Mechanism, offering technical

assistance, capacity building and knowledge

management and networking. Specifically

through the CTCN, LDCs can progress to achieve

further technical assistance, gain from capacity-

building LDC Incubator Programme, as well as

an increased network of implementing partners.

Further on, a presentation by the World Bank

offered insights into economically-focused,

global and regional energy initiatives, such as

the Developing Improved Solutions for Cooking

(DISC), alongside the South Asia Umbrella

Energy Access Initiative. This latter initiative

works to achieve two SE4All goals (universal

electricity access and universal access to clean

cooking solutions) in India, Bangladesh and

Nepal. Also reviewed within this presentation

was a method for measuring energy access: the

Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) is a multi-faceted

means of understanding energy access, with

variables ranging from affordability, legality,

convenience, health-related variables, and many

others. Such an approach aims to establish a

global baseline for energy access, and also to

offer reliable data concerning the energy sector.

Also mentioned was the Scaling Up Renewable

Energy Program, (SREP) which has so far

approved $264 million for 23 projects and

programs, all while aiming to support increased

deployment of renewable energy solutions.

The following presentation by the Integrated

Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

(ICIMOD), headquartered in Kathmandu,

followed a similar theme of regional initiatives,

in providing an update on the status of the

Global Network of Sustainable Energy Centers.

The Himalayan Centre for Renewable Energy

and Energy Efficiency (HCREEE), which is

currently only in its preparatory phases, was

highlighted as a vehicle for promoting

innovative regional approaches to make the

sustainable energy transition goal a reality in the

region.

Other Sustainable Energy Centers include the

ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and

Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), and the Caribbean

Center for Renewable Energy and Energy

Efficiency (CCREEE). Such centers hold a number

of objectives, including promoting and creating

regional sustainable energy markets, and acting

as hubs for knowledge and partnerships. As

such, there are a number of ways that LDCs can

benefit from such regional centres, such as

improved technical capacities of regional

organizations to assist countries in achieving

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targets and implementing policies, and an

increased number of knowledge transfers and

exchanges.

In a presentation given by the Alternative

Energy Promotion Center, the LDC Renewable

Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative (REEEI)

was reviewed. The initiative was launched in

2016 at the COP 22 in Marrakech, and aims to

incorporate the existing capacities of LDCs into

existing initiatives to attend to the energy needs

of the poorest countries. The initiative is divided

into two phases. The first phase (2017-2020) will

strengthen regulatory frameworks and begin

implementing the project/programme pipeline.

The second phase (2020-2030) will see full

implementation of the initiative with rapid

scaling of renewable energy in LDCs. Also

outlined in this presentation were a number of

suggested priority action areas, such as capacity

building at all levels of governance and multi-

stakeholder engagement.

Finally, towards the end of the session, a

number of state-related energy development

case studies were presented, specifically: China,

Japan, and Nepal. In a presentation provided by

a representative of the Government of China, it

was explained that three major factors

contributed to 100 per cent electricity access for

over 1 billion people: gradual electrification

process in township and villages programs,

technologies utilising local conditions, and joint

funding from the government and companies.

The Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies

(ISEP) provided a presentation which put great

emphasis upon the importance of local

ownership, local community power and “spiral

up” development in the energy sector.

Additionally, in a presentation by the Nepal

Electricity Authority, after introducing the status

of Nepal’s national access to electricity, (90

municipalities fully electrified, 147 partially so) a

forward-looking approach was taken, taking

onto account the goals of Nepal’s increased

energy access between the years 2020 and

2030, drawing attention to grid extension and a

Community Rural Electrification Plan.

During the multi-stakeholder dialogue, a variety

of issues and concerns were addressed. One

point that was consistently addressed was the

topic of gender inclusivity. As a follow-up point,

it was noted that the topic of supporting women

through sustainable energy ought to be

addressed. Another point that was consistently

responded to was the concern of the

international arena being oversaturated with

global initiatives, noting how a vast quantity of

energy-related organizations could pose

problems for governments in terms of number

of commitments. In response, it was suggested

that such a multiplicity of organizations could be

good for government’s as well, allowing them to

pick the initiatives that suited them and their

needs best.

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Session 4 – Project

preparation skills

The fourth session of the Regional Meeting

offered many examples – theoretical and real-

world – of project selection and management.

Additionally, it reviewed how to build a robust

project pipeline needed to attract investment

and how to enhance project preparation

capacities to deploy financing models that

encourage blended finance to attract more

funds; private and public, domestic and

international. The session further debated

critical project preparation skills needed and the

role of project preparation facilities.

At the beginning of the session, in a

presentation by the Nepal Energy Authority, the

theoretical model of the “project cycle” was

presented. This cycle is divided into five distinct

steps, though the first two received the most

attention during the presentation:

Programming, Identification, Formulation,

Implementation and Evaluation. Following this,

the initial presentation described some of the

challenges faced during the selection process for

projects in the hydropower sector of Nepal. In

aiming to overcome such issues, the

presentation offered a number of priorities for

the project selection process, namely:

relevance, feasibility (financial, economic, etc.)

and sustainability, (environmental, financial,

management-related, etc.) all while noting that

the project selection process is crucial for Nepal.

A variety of other challenges were also outlined,

such as cross-border trade and geology.

The following presentation by the Global Energy

Interconnection Development and Cooperation

Organization (GEIDCO) focused on proposals by

the President of China, Xi Jinping, to establish

the Global Energy Interconnection (GEI), to

promote clean energy development and combat

climate change on a global level. Also presented

was the Energy Assistance Initiative, which – in

partnership with the OHRLLS and GEIDCO – will

select up to two LDCs every year to provide

support in the area of energy development.

The next presentation by the Norwegian

company DNV GL focused on business

assurance, global classification and technical

assurance, among other areas and sectors. The

representative of DNV GL also discussed their

contributions to project preparation, i.e.

through Due Diligence Reports.

The representative of the UNCDF discussed

energy poverty and income poverty, and how

finance remains a major barrier. To end the

cycle caused by energy poverty and income

poverty, the representative highlighted critical

factors for effective project development,

including customized and affordable financial

services to low income households for accessing

clean energy services. It is important to realize

the opportunity to encourage innovative ideas

in the private sector and to understand the

demand and the supply side while designing a

project. Additionally, it was noted that there

should be a link with government priorities,

initiatives and policies for effective project

development.

UN Photo

15


Mr. Mahesh Acharya, Energy policy expert,

Nepal, discussed that in order to reach the

Sustainable Development Goals, Nepal aims to

install 10,000 MW capacity of hydropower by

2030 and increase grid access to 99 per cent of

the population in 2030. However, the challenges

of the low level of investment in the energy

sector have been mentioned, such as the

absence of a focused sector plan, policies and

strategies, unrealistic revenue and cost

estimations, and the inadequate regulatory

frameworks, public resistance and weak

institutional capacity to study, analyse or

negotiate and poor implementation capacity in

the public sector utility. In order to enhance

project implementation capacity, the

government needs to allocate sufficient funds

for project preparation contributing towards

establishment of project pipeline of bankable

project sand capacity development within the

sector agencies.

During the interactive dialogue, it was

mentioned that depending on financial as well

as socio-geological assessments, project costs

could increase. Therefore, it was proposed that

the government could create “an idea/proposal

bank”, where the projects should be well

analyzed, prepared, sequenced and then

projects given priority would be be selected and

coordinated by the government.

*** ***

The main messages from the presentations and

stakeholder discussion over the two days

include:

The importance of using sustainable

sources of energy for the Asia-Pacific LDCs

to be able join the rapid pace of

development and progress being achieved

in the region.

Energy intensity is high in the Asia-Pacific

LDCs. It was underlined that accelerating

energy access and improving energy

efficiency can go together. Urgent and

scaled-up efforts are needed to address the

both areas.

Though many LDCs have vast resources for

energy generation, they have limited

technical and financial capacity. Therefore,

it is critical to continue providing capacity

building to LDCs in the power sector. LDCs

need to work closely together with

development partners to develop

programmes aligned with their national

priorities.

LDCs are highly dependent on regional and

international organizations’ support and

assistance in preparing investment

prospectuses.

An enabling environment and a supportive

investment climate should be an integral

part of investment prospectus, building on

comparative advantages of the country.

To accomplish sustainable and affordable

energy for all requires a variety of

approaches of financing modules and

instruments. There is no “one-size-fits”

model for all as each country’s transition to

a sustainable energy sector involves a

unique mix of resource opportunities and

challenges and financing models and

instruments be designed to meet the

unique needs and resources of each country

with the necessary mix of grid, mini-grid

and off-grid solutions.

• 4 out of 5 persons lack access to

electricity in LDCs

• 9 out of 10 persons lack access to

modern cooking in LDCs

• According to Sustainable Energy for All,

35 LDCs rank within the bottom 40

countries for energy access, energy

efficiency and renewable energy

16


Off-grid intervention is needed in order to

reach people in difficult geographical areas

and severe remoteness. Finance

mechanisms for “last-mile access’ as well as

focusing on the lack of energy access

impacting women need to play an

important role on the way forward.

Sustainable energy and women’s

empowerment are mutually reinforcing.

The private sector can play a major role in

ensuring energy access, especially in rural

and remote areas through solar household,

mini-grid and off-grid solutions.

New and innovative business models will

have to be implemented. Customized and

affordable financial services need to be

accessible to low-income households

including women in order to improve

energy access.

An environmental viewpoint on energy

initiatives was offered, it was discussed how

LDCs can receive technical assistance and

have access to knowledge management

systems through the Climate Technology

Centre and Network, operational

organization of the UNFCCC Technology

Mechanism

The Multi-Tier Framework is a multi-faceted

approach to understanding energy access,

reaching across a large spectrum of factors:

legality, reliability, health-related factors

and others. In understanding and

responding to challenges in the

implementation of sustainable energy,

consideration of such varied factors would

be key.

LDCs need more grant based external public

finance as their potential to raise capital

from private sources of finance is more

limited than other developing countries’.

Project development should have

manageable goals and priorities in line with

national development strategies and more

funds should be allocated to project

preparation.

Project preparation capacities and skills in

LDCs to attract more funds; private and

public, domestic and international, should

be improved.

17


Closing session

Under-Secretary General and High

Representative Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya

expressed his sincere appreciation to all the

participants of the meeting, recognizing their

commitment and active interaction during the

meeting. Mr. Acharya then went on to describe

some of the key points of the meeting,

including: the strong commitment of the LDCs

for delivering on energy goals, the positive

effects of reliable and affordable energy for

sustainable development, and the necessity of

better access to financing. Mr. Acharya also

noted that the meeting served as an

opportunity to share experiences and best

practices among the participants.

Mr. Acharya emphasized the intent of the UN to

work on improving energy access, and

underlined the importance of the meeting in the

implementation of the SDGs.

Mr. Gauri Pradhan, International Coordinator of

LDC Watch, extended his sincere appreciation to

the organizers, UN-OHRLLS and the Government

of Nepal for successfully convening the meeting.

Mr. Pradhan mentioned the fact that only 30

per cent of the 900 million people living in the

48 LDCs have access to energy. Hence, 7 out of

10 of the LDC citizens do not have access. LDC’s

particularly, in the Asia Pacific region, have

potential for producing renewable energy.

However, the main constraint for capitalizing on

this potential is the financial resources, limited

capacity and enabling environment.

The regional meeting has shown the way to

access and explore potential finance to

accelerate energy transformation. Additionally,

he stated that capacity building is very

important to be able to access finance and

overcome existing challenges to execute

sustainable energy projects and it has further

elucidated on the increasing role of national

governments, private sectors and CSOs for

sustainable energy investment.

Mr. Pradhan also mentioned that the national

governments should create an enabling

environment for public and private investors

through robust policies and regulations.

Towards the end of his presentation, he

emphasized that sustainable energy will

enhance economic development but will also

contribute towards social empowerment that

will improve basic services such as education,

health, food, employment and water and

sanitation.

Dr. Arbind Kumar Mishra of the National

Planning Commission of Nepal, in his closing

statement, recognized the many challenges

mentioned during the conference. However, he

also remarked upon the instances of strong

national ownership and political will during the

conference, recalling having also seen

dedication of regions and nations to achieve

SDG 7. Afterwards, he reflected upon a few

successful best practices in energy by various

countries, also emphasizing that transferring to

sustainable energy will require the support and

participation of numerous groups. Finally, he

briefly presented the draft of the co-chairs

summary report, extending an invitation to

participants to submit their suggestions and

their views to contribute to the report.

UN Photo

Documents

Summary Report Nepal Word FINAL - UN-OHRLLSunohrlls.org/.../Summary-Report-Nepal-Word_FINAL.pdf · Country Office in Nepal. The meeting was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 22 to 23