Nepal’s Economic Transformation Using its Surplus Electricity

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2 December 2025/१६ मंसिर २०८२ (मंगलबार, दिउँसो ३ बजे)
Nepal’s Economic Transformation Using its Surplus Electricity
Bikash Pandey, Director of Clean Energy & Circular Economy, Winrock International

Abstract:
Nepal has a surplus of electricity generation that is slated to grow each year for the coming decades. The Ministry of Energy has developed an ambitious 10-year Roadmap showing a quadrupling of per capita domestic consumption of electricity while at the same time increasing exports to neighboring countries to five times the country’s current total current generation capacity. The Ministry of Environment has developed an alternative ‘Long term strategy’ (LTS) that calls for using the green electricity, which is generated with renewable hydropower and solar energy, to reduce the country’s net greenhouse gas emissions to zero over the next 20 years. This paper reviews these strategies and attempts to answer the questions: a) which sectors of the economy are best placed to utilize the projected surplus power and b) how intensive electrification of these sectors can generate new livelihoods for Nepali youth to find jobs in their own country and increase per capita incomes so their families can afford to use the generated electricity to improve their quality of life.

About the speaker:
Bikash Pandey is the Director of Clean Energy & Circular Economy, Winrock International. His work experience encompasses 35 years in policy review, design, and implementation of a range of clean/renewable energy projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He is one of the pioneers of micro-hydro development in Nepal as well as financing for Independent Power Producers. He holds an M.S. in Energy and
Resources from the University of California at Berkeley and a S.B. in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also one of the founders of Martin Chautari.