Kavre, February 16

Minister of State for Energy Deepak Bahadur Singh has said that energy and prosperity are complementary and that the country's prosperity is not possible without reliable energy and vice-versa.

Speaking at during the inaugural session of a two-day programme titled 'Energy for Sustainable Development of Bagmati Province' organised by Independent Power Producers' Association - Nepal (IPPAN) here today, Minister Singh said that energy access for all people is an important foundation for sustainable economic development.

Commending the role played by the private sector in the development of the energy sector, he said, 'The private companies contributed in ending hours-longpower cuts as well as helped to fullfil the government's goal of 100 per cent electricity access.'

Stating that the country has gradually become self-reliant on electricity and can even export excess electricity to neighbouring countries, he said that the current leadership is serious about the problems faced by the private sector and has decided to resume power purchase agreements (PPAs) of up to 1,500 MW with the developers of run-of-therive (RoR) projects, which had been halted for four years.

Likewise, Minister for Water, Energy and Irrigation (Bagmati Province) UddhavThapa said that the government should prioritise replacing the dependence on petroleum products by promoting clean energy.

'The government is currently giving a subsidy of Rs 500 per cylinder on LP gas, which is costly and a dangerous cooking fuel for consumers,' Minister Thapa said. 'The government should subsidise electric stoves instead of LPG gas, which will help to increase power consumption in the country.'

Meanwhile, President of IPPAN Krishna Prasad Acharya welcomed the government's decision to reopen PPA for 1,500 MW capacity hydropower project and urged PPAs for other types of hydropower projects also in the future.

Prakash Dulal, a member of the working committee of IPPAN, while presenting a paper on energy for the sustainable development of Bagmati Province, said that there is a huge potential of hydropower projects in Nepal and it is necessary to invest enough to get returns from it.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 17, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.