Power Summit 2013 - IPPAN President Speech Right Honorable President of Nepal Dignitaries on the Dais, Excellencies, Friends from the Media, Ladies and Gentleman On behalf of the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal, IPPAN, PTC, India and NRNA, I welcome you to Power Summit 2013 and thank you all for honoring us with your presence in what I believe is a critical milestone in the history of hydropower development in Nepal. The timing of this Power Summit, we feel, is critical due to opportunities we see in the upcoming national elections, the writing of a new constitution for Nepal and developing the Nepali economy in order to improve the quality of life of all Nepali citizens. I firmly believe that only hydro power can help Nepal attain permanent peace and prosperity. As an independent hydropower developer, but more importantly as a citizen of Nepal, I share the concerns of many about the current energy crisis, the decrease in the contribution of the industry sector to the national GDP, the rising price of fossil fuel and its cost to our economy, and the lack of jobs at home that are driving hundreds of thousands of young Nepalis to seek work in far away countries. If we can all work together over the next five years to hasten the pace of hydro power development in Nepal, we will see a change for the better for us and for Nepal and our neighbors with the support of our development partners and investors. In the past five years, since the last Power Summit in 2008, we have had a lot of talk, many meetings and speeches, we have heard about good intentions and yet we have seen very few megawatts being connected to the grid. In the same period we have added only 180 MW of generation capacity, 110 MW of which was the contribution of the private sector. At this Power Summit we are seeking a breakthrough so that this dismal performance can change for the better and we can see economic growth rise exponentially. We can do much better if we all work together. I am confident that we are all here because we want to bring positive changes and improve upon the current scenario of electricity deficits in the country. Following the initial enthusiasm created by enabling legislation in 1992, the private sector entered the electricity generation business, but had to face numerous obstacles in mobilizing domestic and international resources. The zeal has begun to diminish in the last few years due to various contributing factors – the details of which will be discussed in the two days of deliberations at this Summit. However, we are now happy that the Government of Nepal has made hydroelectric generation, transmission and distribution a priority. This was eminently reflected in GoN’s current annual budget. We are pleased to hear about the allocations for transmission, and the initiatives to harmonize laws that are obstacles to accelerated hydro power development. There needs to be more dialogue and an open communication process between the government and the private sector that facilitates infrastructure requirements for hydro projects and creates an overall improvement in the investment climate for these projects. This will lead to furthering of a true development partnership between the public and private sectors. I would like to emphasize that one of the principle reasons why investors have not moved from current survey license to obtaining generation licenses is primarily due to lack of clarity on a realistic domestic demand forecast catering to electrification, commercial and industrial growth. This has led to mixed messages about how serious the government is about providing electricity to its people. Our inability to accurately forecast energy requirements has stalled millions of dollars of domestic and foreign investment. This has also resulted in slow pace of integrating Nepal’s energy market with those of our neighbors. We are of the view that these issues have to receive the urgent attention so that investments can be mobilized to add more generation capacity in the system. This will eventually lead to displacement of fossil fuel dependency in cooking, industrial and commercial use. Likewise this will contribute to protect our natural environment. Ladies and Gentlemen, while developing the theme for Power Summit 2013, we have chosen four pillars that will help us make action plans in order to hasten the pace of hydro power development in Nepal. These are topics related to: - Projects to meet domestic demand with domestic investment - Domestic supply projects with FDI - Export oriented projects - Integrating the power market including transmission systems The next two days will help us to review, understand and then chart the way ahead on each of the above issues. The independent power producers are happy to participate in the efforts of Government of Nepal, Ministry of Energy and the Office of Investment Board. Jointly we can make Nepal a hydro powered country. We commit to work with our NRN brothers and sisters and engage our partners in neighboring markets. We are all fully aware that the hydropower industry is a long-term, multi faceted, capital-intensive undertaking which requires a lot of patience in the project developers and a great deal of hand-holding from the government to create an investment-friendly environment. It also requires a well-defined framework for project development that provides a stable legal and regulatory mechanism during the project life. In addition, FDI requires bilateral investment protection. Nepal has already entered into BIPPA with many countries, and it would benefit the sector to provide this facility to others showing interest in investing in hydropower in Nepal. Ladies and Gentlemen, we welcome you once again to this Power Summit and look forward to active discussions and deliberations among all stakeholders. We are committed to developing the hydro power sector in Nepal at an accelerated pace. Please be a partner in this fascinating journey! Thank you Dr. Subarna Das Shrestha, President, IPPAN
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 04:53:17 +0000
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