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The perennial shortage of energy in the country has compelled the government to seek out alternative sources to meet demand. Wind energy is one of the cleanest and fastest growing power sources in the world and wind farms can be constructed quickly and on a large scale. For these reasons the Government of Nepal has decided to embrace wind energy and has announced its plan to set up a 20 MW project to serve the capital and its environs. The government has also given tax exemptions on the import of the machinery and equipment needed for wind energy projects in order to encourage investment from the private sector.
The recent Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) has alerted the world to wind power opportunities in Nepal and several overseas companies have shown interest in investing in large scale projects. Ten Nepali organizations have already been registered as promoters of wind power technology, and have, to date imported more than 30 small wind systems of up to 1kW. Some of these systems have already been installed with feasibility studies being carried out for the remainder. AEPC, in collaboration with Hydro Solution and Everest Renewables Private Limited conducted a national-level workshop in October 2008 entitled “Wind Energy and its role in mitigating the energy crisis”. AEPC also hosted a short interaction program in December 2008 which concluded that the major barrier to large scale international cooperation in wind energy is the lack of a coherent wind energy policy. This situation is set to change during the Nepali fiscal year 2065 / 2066 (2008 – 2009) with the government committed to developing a clear wind energy policy based on public private partnership.
Activities- Wind speed data collection and the expansion of the wind station network
- Data analysis and reporting
- Research and development of wind energy technology
- Implementation of small wind power generation projects
Strategy- Develop and monitor the overall dissemination of wind energy technology
- Actively promote wind energy to raise awareness and uptake
- Build the capacity of the public / private sector and that of end users
- Ensure the formulation of a coherent wind energy policy
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