The Asian Development Bank (ADB) handed over its pilot project on wind solar hybrid energy system to Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) of the Ministry of Environment at a function organized at the Nepal Resident Mission recently. 

The wind-solar hybrid system was installed in Dhaubadi village of Nawalparasi district in December 2011 under ADB’s regional technical assistance (RETA) for Effective Development of Distributed Small Wind Power Systems in Asian Rural Areas for which the AEPC was the implementing agency in Nepal. The $3.8 million RETA was part of ADB’s "Energy For All" initiative that supports increasing access to energy in remote rural areas. Along with Nepal, the RETA covers Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives. 

“The Project is now providing electricity services to 46 rural households of Dhaubadi. This was the pilot for the hybrid wind and solar system in Nepal. The success of this project has demonstrated that it is indeed viable to provide reliable energy access to rural Nepal through solar wind hybrid systems as one of the clean energy options,” said Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB’s Country Director for Nepal, speaking at the event. He also said that the lessons learned from this project will be very useful in scaling up the systems across Nepal, as well as in other developing member countries of ADB.

The project is based on ‘energy systems’ planning approach and has installed two sets of 5 kW wind turbines complimented by 2 kWp of solar PV panels to satisfy the village’s electricity demand of 43.6 KWh per day. The electricity from the mini-grid has helped the villagers in Dhaubadi save time and money spent on their search for firewood. Electricity has also eased a hard life by allowing women to cook and clean, children to study after dark and improved overall productivity of households.

The transfer document was signed by  Yongping Zhai, Director, Energy Division, South Asia Department, ADB and  Ram Prasad Dhital, Acting Executive Director, AEPC which marked the official handover of the wind-solar hybrid system from ADB to AEPC starting 13 June 2014.

“ADB is now supporting the Government of Nepal to scale up similar initiatives in other rural areas of the country under its proposed SASEC power system expansion project,” said Zhai.  “Under the proposed SASEC power system expansion project, the off-grid component with more than 4.0 MW of mini hydro and 500 kW mini grid based solar or solar and wind hybrid system will be added. This will provide access to electricity and facilitate productive energy use activities in rural locations from various sources of energy like mini hydro, wind energy, solar energy and wind solar hybrid energy systems,” he further added. 

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members -- 48 from the region.