Energy Baseline Survey

The Government of Nepal, through Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) and Development Partners, has been promoting Renewable Energy (RE) sector for many years. Nepal is endowed with good sources of RE primarily in the form of hydropower, solar, wind and various forms of biomass. There has been steady growth in access to RE in Nepal, however, it are still lot of scope for equitable distribution of RE across the country. Major reasons for this inequality include high development costs, low incomes, low levels of awareness, and low institutional capacity at the central and local level (National Rural and Renewable Energy Programme, 2012).
Currently, Nepal has undertaken federal structuring with three levels of government (Federal, Provincial, and Local), but the roles of these three levels of government are yet to be detailed. In addition, there is no consolidated and aggregated data of energy sector based on the new boundary of (rural) municipality. These factors are critically affecting the sound and effective planning of required interventions in energy mapping, energy planning, capacity building and RE promotion to targeted population at the local level. In the context, Renewable Energy for Rural Areas (RERA) project of GIZ is providing technical assistance to AEPC on RE program implementation in Province 1 and Province 7 of Nepal. GIZ program together with AEPC/Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihood (RERL) aims to develop robust tools and standard procedures for the provincial/local levels government to assess the energy baseline and undertake RE resource mapping. Also, the program will establish baseline of energy access (lighting, cooking, and productive/consumptive use of energy) in (rural) municipalities which will serve as a key document to show the energy situation in the study areas and a base document for Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) promotion. Furthermore, the baseline study will serve as a standard guiding principle for other municipalities for recognizing potential interventions required to increase energy access within those local bodies.

RERL is supporting AEPC to develop Municipal Energy Planning (MEP) tool to develop energy plan of municipalities. In this context, GIZ has awarded this assignment to Winrock International to help RERA program to develop a standard methodology for an Energy Baseline Survey for (rural) municipalities, develop energy baseline (situation analysis) of three (rural) municipalities of Ilam district, data collection, data analysis, share findings with municipalities and orient them on the potential level of intervention for increasing energy access. Urban and peri-urban settlements are supplied with electricity through the national grid. While in the remote rural locations, electricity is supplied mainly through micro hydro, pico hydro, improved water mill electrification (IWM-E) and solar home systems. Of the total HHs in Ilam, the main sources of power for lighting are national grid, RETs and kerosene. Roughly, 60% of households are connected to national grid and around 9% households use RETs for lighting. Likewise, around 30% households use RETs such as biogas, Improved cookstoves (ICS) and metallic ICS for cooking.

RERL is involved in developing Municipal Level Energy Plan in Palungtar Municipality of Gorkha district and Mahankal Rural Municipality of Lalitpur district. RERL is also preparing standard methodology for this purpose. Thus, Winrock International on the basis of these initiatives and efforts will prepare, test and finalize the energy baseline survey methodology including different tools, forms, questionnaire which can be utilized in the other (Rural) Municipalities of the country.

Objectives of the assignment:

The major objectives of this assignment are to develop a standard methodology for energy baseline survey for the newly established rural municipalities, and to conduct a survey of energy baseline situation as well as energy resource mapping in 3 selected municipalities of Ilam. The information surveyed will include a comprehensive energy demand and supply situation, energy use pattern, status of RE interventions, grid extension, possibilities of financing, potential RE interventions, stakeholder analysis and to prepare Municipality Renewable Energy Situation (MRES) to support in promotion of the RETs. The survey data will be in a format useful for the improved MIS (in progress) of AEPC that RERA is supporting.