ED Adhikari completes tenure with success notes
The Nepal Weekly 
February 7, 2023
Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) Dr. MadhusudhanAdhikari has completed a 4 years tenure on February 05, 2023. The Government of Nepal had given him the leading designation 4 years back.
A press meet was organized to brief on his tenure and achievements of the center during the four year period. Dr. Adhikari termed the tenure was successful in performance and results including base works including policies for the promotion and development of renewable energy technologies which carried out during the period.He mentioned that coronavirus pandemic hit the country and rest of the world, still the center achieved better.
The policies on empowering provincial governments and local governments on renewable energy technologies to promote and manage are among the achievements. The funding mechanism now on will be 90 per cent of federal government and local government will be responsible for 10 per cent of investment on renewable energy technologies deployment.
The amendment of the formation order, AEPC scopes are added with performance on Energy Efficiency and Energy Security aspects.
He elaborated that the center has been successful in developing ties with donors, development partners and international funding agencies. Green Climate Fund (GCF), Asian Development Bank projects, World Bank supports, German, UK supports are some to name. Thus, during the four year period around 40 billion rupees were mobilized.
Amendment on mobilization guideline also made possible for wider and better use of Central Renewable Energy Fund, Dr. Adhikari added.
Government of Nepal had so far received around 4 billion rupees from carbon credit that Nepal reduced carbon emission through improved water mills, micro hydro, biogas and others. The carbon market was inactive for a couple of years but it has been reopened. From the changed context, Nepal will be able to bring more than 2 billion rupees as the good result of the AEPC efforts.
At the time when the country is going to provide access to electricity to all households in the country within two years to come, AEPC has to be engaged in electricity access through renewable energy technologies to around 210,000 households. The center will have to create access to the residents of far flung locations where alternative technologies work efficiently than grid connections.
The center has been conducting cooking in clean energy project in Terai districts with a GCF fund of around 6 billion rupees. That will benefit 150,000 households with electric cooking, biogas and other appropriate technologies.
Country Action Plan for clean cooking has launched recently. This was AEPC initiative and carried out by Clean Cooking Alliance Nepal. The action plan guides the strategies to be implemented for providing access of clan technologies for the household for smoke free cooking solutions which will help people stay away from airborne diseases and reduce use of imported fossil fuels like LPG.
The electricity access by renewable energy technologies was 2.5 per cent 4 years back while it stands at 4 per cent presently.
AEPC will have its own building in few years to come as the team had managed to get government owned land at Babar Mahal in Kathmandu to build AEPC house. This was also a success land mark, Dr. Adhikari had described.
Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) was established on 3rd November 1996 with the decision of the Government known as formation order which gives mandate of developing, promoting and expanding renewable energy technologies with focus in rural areas of Nepal, has rapidly evolved into a nationally and internationally recognized organization. Energy efficiency is a new mandate given to AEPC by the Government of Nepal. It seeks to adopt the measures to address the predominant energy poverty and provide viable renewable energy options primarily in rural remote areas by replacing traditional and imported fossil fuels.
Over the period of 26 years the centre had made many accomplishments through the continuous financial and technical support from the Government of Nepal and external development partners, dedication of our staff and the engagement of the private sector and local communities that have contributed tremendously to the achievement of increasing access to electricity and clean cooking solutions to majority of the population. Over the years, AEPC has supported more than 14 million people across country realizing their energy needs through deployment of appropriate renewable energy solutions, subsidy and credit financing. More than 500 private service providers and numerous local communities are leading service delivery while creating direct and indirect employment opportunities to well over 30,000 people. Despite the Covid-19, AEPC has achieved a remarkable progress during the fiscal year 2078/79 with 83% and 84% of physical and financial progress respectively. During the year, AEPC installed 2,615 kW micro and mini hydropower projects with varying capacities, supported 12,076 and 13,303 households with solar PV home system for electricity and improved cook stoves (metallic stoves and electric stoves) respectively. We constructed 6,374 domestic biogas plants, 683 solar drinking water and irrigation projects and 1009 remote health care and community schools solar PV systems. In addition, there have been various activities related to research and development, user surveys, impact studies, capacity building of provincial and local governments’ staffs and so on.
