Nepal Switches on its Largest Wind-Solar Hybrid Power System
12 December 2017
Nepal switched on its largest wind-solar hybrid power system on 12 December 2017 in Hariharpurgadi village, Sindhuli district. The system produces 110 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electrical energy per day, to help meet Hariharpurgadi’s electricity demand of 87 kWh per day.
The subproject, implemented by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), supplies power to 83 rural households through 20-kilowatt wind turbines complemented by 15 kilowatt-peak of solar photovoltaic cells.
The construction of the hybrid power system was approved in 2014 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Power System Expansion Project. The project has a total cost of $16.2 million and was partly financed by the Government of Nepal, the Scaling up of Renewable Energy Program under the Climate Investment Fund, and the local community.
AEPC is constructing hybrid power plants in 10 locations around Nepal through a $3 million ADB grant under the SASEC Power System Expansion Project. Nepal has also begun operations of a wind-solar mini-grid power plant in Miklajung Rural Municipality.
The mini-grid projects will help ADB improve livelihood opportunities for Nepal’s rural population, according to Mr. Mukhtor Khamudkhanov, ADB Country Director for Nepal. "Access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy will help the village to connect to the world through Internet and mobile phones, and will create opportunities to boost local income," he said.
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