Access and supply of ‘clean energy for all’ is challenging

While experts involved in clean energy policy and development in Nepal have emphasized that the government has been working on a strategy to expand and provide access to clean energy to all citizens of the country for nearly a decade, its supply is still challenging. It has been realized that while some achievements have been made in recent years, increasing electrical safety, practical knowledge, and quality supply at the local level have not been easy.

In the discussion programme organized by Urja Khabar in collaboration with Martin Chautari expert presenter and participants emphasized on need of the quality of energy, the internal market, and its expansion. The event was organized on Tuesday 31st March, 2026 a part of series of ‘Energy Policy Dialogue’.

Presenting at the event on the topic of ‘Clean Energy for All Campaign in Nepal’, Pooja Sharma, Country Director of Practical Action Nepal, shared knowledge and information about the progress, opportunities, challenges, and future directions made by Nepal so far in providing clean energy for all. Sharma presented the fact that although electricity has reached almost all households in Nepal, its use in the kitchen and other domestic areas is very low. It has not been able to improve the lifestyle of the common people.

She mentioned that currently about 99 percent of households in Nepal have access to electricity. Similarly, the total installed capacity of electricity generation has reached about 4,099 megawatts, but electricity usage in the kitchen is very low as 0.5 percent. Moreover, 51 percent of the population depends on firewood for their cooking needs. This results in the deaths of approximately 24,000 people annually due to indoor air pollution i.e. inhaling toxic smoke produced by in-house cooking activities. Similarly, due to the inability to utilize energy properly, farmers lose more than 30 percent of agricultural productions post-harvest.

She further mentioned that to address this situation, Practical Action, the international agriculture and energy research, development and support institution engaged in Nepal for decades, has launched an electric cooking campaign in 500 households in Syangja. “There is a lot of awareness and use of electric cook tops in the area where we worked,” she said. “Locals who initially asked whether rice would cook on induction have now gained the skills to cook almost every dish on it.” She believes that although the use of induction cooktops has increased across the country, there is a lack of interest among businessmen in its supply due to profit and other reasons. According to her, as a promotional and modern effort to increase the use of clean energy, the organization has already commissioned model projects such as a 924 kW solar PV and a 2 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Lakshmi Steel Industry. Additionally, emphasis has been given on the use of modern technologies such as ‘photonic coating’ to increase the capacity of transmission lines by 30 percent and reduce electricity leakage by 10 percent. Such efforts have helped reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency in industries. He believes that the government should, as promised, make electricity the basis of prosperity and encourage sectors such as electric stoves and electric transportation to increase domestic consumption and provide clean energy to everyone. Similarly, Sharma says that the role of regulatory bodies is important in making consumers not just customers but also producers and consumers and in protecting their rights.

Pooja Sharma, energy expert and Country Director of Practical Action Nepal

Remarkably, Pooja Sharma is the first Woman Country Director of Practical Action in Nepal. She leads the organization’s strategic direction and programs focused on climate resilience, clean energy, and climate-smart agriculture. An engineering graduate and with advanced degrees in Sociology and Anthropology, Pooja carries over 20 years of experience working with a wide range of organizations

At the discussion event, energy expert Prabal Adhikari, who is also the former Deputy Managing Director at Nepal Electricity Authority, pointed out the need for comprehensive improvements in the infrastructure for the transmission and distribution of electricity to provide clean energy to all. He also said that appropriate electricity tariffs should be arranged for household consumption.

“We import about 350 billion rupees of petroleum annually, while we export about 8.5 hundred megawatts of electricity,” he said. “The electricity we export is consumed in the kitchen, which will help increase access to clean energy for everyone and also help replace petroleum.”

Energy expert Kumar Pandey, who is also the chairman of Martin Chautari, said that Nepal still has to import electricity during the dry season, attention should be paid to the fact that electric stoves also have to be powered by imported electricity. “If that happens, the cost per unit will be as high as Rs 30, and this should be accepted.” He shared his experience that the exodus of manpower capable of working on the promotion of clean energy has caused problems. His conclusion was also the bitter reality that although about 50 engineering colleges in Nepal produce 8,000 engineers annually, there is always a shortage of engineers.

Director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center, Mukesh Ghimire presented elaborating the reality that all agencies focus their attention only when there is a problem with petroleum imports, rather than continuing the work of providing clean energy for all or energy conversion.

Energy expert Rahul Shah said that attention should also be paid to issues such as upgrading electricity meters and house wiring to increase access to clean energy by adopting measures such as electric stoves, agrivoltaic (a technology that combines solar energy generation and farming on the same land with elevated solar panels above the plants).

said that there is a trend of storing electric stoves even in places where they are distributed, and that the regulatory body should pay attention to determining tariffs using an appropriate method for their use.

On the occasion, Energy expert Surya Prasad Adhikari, Pratyus Wanta, Research Director at Martin Chautari, Santilakshmi Shakya, former deputy executive director of NEA, Ranju Pandey, director of NEA, Narayan Gyawali, president of the National Association of Community Electricity Users Nepal, Min Bikram Malla, Project Officer of Practical Action also spoke on various aspects of energy and electric cooking in Nepal.