Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 26

AsiaElec NEWS IN BRIEF AsiaElec

INVESTMENT

ADB approves $200mn loan

to modernise power supply,
distribution system in Nepal

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
approved a $200mn concessional loan to
improve power supply and distribution
systems in Nepal.
Nepal has made significant progress in
electricity supply after years of chronic power
shortages. However, its power transmission
and distribution systems need further
strengthening to increase network capacity,
improve quality and reliability, and remove
delays between generation hubs and load
centres.
The project will finance, among others,
TARIFFS coronavirus, Reuters reported. the reinforcement and modernisation of the
The South East Asia Clean Energy Facility power supply system in Kathmandu Valley,
Singapore tariff to fall 15% (SEACEF) is managed by Singapore-based Bharatpur metropolitan area of Chitwan
Clime Capital, with an initial investment of
district in Bagmati Province and Pokhara
from July to September $10mn and a focus on getting new projects of Kaski district in Gandaki Province,
where supply interruptions are frequent and
underway in Vietnam, Indonesia and the
The electricity tariff will fall by an average of Philippines. prolonged. The project also aims to support
15 per cent for the period from Jul 1 to Sep 30 “We need to mobilise billions to make a Province 2, where the quality of electricity
due to lower energy costs, said SP Group on meaningful impact on climate change,” said supply is poor and about 20% of households
Tuesday (Jun 30). Mason Wallick, Clime Capital’s managing are still without access to the national grid.
Households will see a drop in the tariff director, who sits on the SEACEF investment “The project will help sustain Nepal’s
from 23.02 cents to 19.60 cents per kilowatt committee. improved electricity supply momentum
hour, said SP Group in a media release. Money is most needed to fill a gap in over the past two years. This will facilitate
Families living in four-room HDB flats can funding to help early-stage projects get off the meeting future demand from commercial
expect their average monthly bill to decrease ground, he added. and industrial activities as well as from
by about S$12. Asia-Pacific, home to two-thirds of communities, particularly women, who can
The latest tariff is the lowest since the the world’s people, is experiencing rising now benefit from electricity-based enterprises
October to December period in 2016, when it urbanisation, population and economic and focus on productive economic and
was at 19.13 cents per kWh. growth, leaving nations scrambling to provide social activities,” said ADB Principal Energy
SP Group reviews the electricity tariffs enough electric power while keeping promises Specialist Jiwan Acharya.
quarterly based on guidelines set by the to cut heat-trapping emissions. Complementing ADB’s loan, the
Energy Market Authority, the electricity Last year, researchers said Southeast Asian Government of Norway is providing a $35mn
industry regulator. countries must end their reliance on coal cofinancing grant for the installation and
The tariffs in the previous quarter fell by power and switch to clean energy, to meet upgrading of power distribution networks in
5.1 per cent, falling from a five-year high in pledges to curb climate change and tackle air Province 2 and various substations to evacuate
the first three months of 2020. pollution. hydropower in the country.
SEACEF describes itself as a “first-of-its- In addition, it is providing a $5mn
kind” philanthropic initiative to tackle climate technical assistance grant for capacity
change, focused on the high-risk funding development of the Nepal Electricity
INVESTMENT needed to get new clean energy projects up Authority to ensure that gender equality and
and running. social inclusion are strengthened, and new
New climate fund raises businesses that include wind and solar power, infrastructure resilient.
It will look to invest broadly in projects and technologies are used to make electricity
$2.5bn for clean energy for mains grid infrastructure, energy efficiency in Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation
The project is aligned with the South
buildings, and electronic mobility and storage,
SE Asia Wallick said. programme on intraregional power trade
Early-stage capital is “in very short supply”,
through cross-border power exchange. The
A new climate fund backed by philanthropic a situation exacerbated by the coronavirus upgrading of substations in Khimti, Barhabise,
donors is aiming to trigger $2.5bn of clean pandemic pushing investors to reduce their and Lapsiphedi to 400-kV will facilitate cross-
energy investment in Southeast Asia and exposure and limit development budgets, he border power exchange with India.
aid the region’s green recovery after the added. ADB

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