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September 20, 2015 was a day of paradox in Nepal. Mixed emotions were up in the air; some celebrating and some creating havoc. This excitement was due to the establishment of their new Constitution. Although many people have accepted the Constitution to be the start of a new era, others have violently opposed it.

Nepal is a landlocked country with its only access to the sea being through its neighbor, India. Nepal is highly dependent on imports of commodities from the international community. It receives its goods by using the seaport in India from which they are then transported through the customs located in the Southern border of Nepal. There is currently a National Alert due to the blockade of the border caused by protesters, completely shutting off the vital supply line[1]. The protesters are there because they believe that the new Constitution has marginalized the people of the Southern Lowlands[2]. (more…)

Nepal has recently received a lot of global attention due to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the country on April 25, 2015. Out of all the earthquake affected communities, Barpak was the epicenter of the disaster, destroying 1200 houses and leaving only ten unharmed. The Wind Power Nepal (WPN) team joined Story Cycle in Sept 2015, to help with their Build Camp Project along with other professionals in Barpak.

Barpak is not an easy village to access, due to its remote location in a high mountainous area. We began our journey, on 10th Sept, early in the morning from Kalanki, Kathmandu, driving about four hours to Abu Khaireni on asphalt road for lunch. Following lunch, the team drove on the rocky roads to Baluwa. From Baluwa we began our second half of the voyage that consisted of a seven hour uphill hike to Barpak. This trek was necessary due to the recent earthquake, which made the main road inaccessible.

With many individuals in cities leading busy fast paced lifestyles, it is often hard for people to pause and listen to the personal stories of others. The rationale behind this trip to Barpak was to do exactly that, to speak to local people and record personal stories about their experiences with the devastating earthquake. Hearing their stories moved each and every member of our team to share these experiences with the public who would have otherwise never heard them.

The purpose of the visit to Barpak was not to provide goods, or offer abstract theoretical strategies to develop the community. Rather, it was to show that there were people who cared about them. This was seen when the stories were told not only with words, but also with emotions. The empathy that the team shared with the people reminded them that they were not alone in their struggle to restore their livelihoods. The team’s first impression of the people from Barpak was that they were a strong, intelligent and self-sustaining community. This first impression held true throughout the visit. Barpak is being restored at a fast rate without electricity. Everything had to be manual, from gathering resources for recovering their homes to mobilizing essential supplies from the cities.

The WPN team members who traveled along with Story Cycle also conducted a needs assessment. This process adopted a participatory approach, which involved those who were most affected. The team focused on understanding different sectoral issues of the village, such as housing, energy supply, water, sanitation, and healthcare. Due to WPN’s organizational mandate, the members took a greater interest in the issue of energy. Prior to the earthquake, Barpak’s electricity demands were fulfilled by a micro-hydro system. However, this power plant was severely damaged which paralyzed many people’s livelihoods and economic activities. The local people used electricity to operate mills, various tools for construction, powering home appliances and domestic lighting. Therefore, the major concern for the locals was electricity.

Currently, a 50kVA generator powers the village. It is used to provide electricity for lighting homes and the community mill used for food preparation. However, this generator is only operational between the hours of 6:00pm to 10:00pm. This generator is the only source of energy until the micro-hydro system is repaired. Therefore, through the needs assessment, WPN explored various alternative solutions for the locals until the micro-hydro system is functioning at full capacity. This could possibly mean expanding the use of integrated small solar panel units for domestic lighting during power outage hours.

Living and engaging with the local people truly gave our team an eye-opening and humbling experience. Even in the midst of the destruction, the local people never lost their positive attitude as they were selfless and constantly worried about our well-being. At times, seeing devastating damages of the earthquake was shocking. Our team hypothesized that the attitude of the people of Barpak may be from the natural environment and landscape that characterizes them. They have a beautiful view of the Buddha Mountain, and the sounds of flowing streams and chirping birds. Another factor that may have contributed to their well-being was due to the closely knit community where everyone was supportive of one another. Activities are conducted in groups, as opposed to individually.

Involvement in the Build Barpak Programme proved to be an invaluable experience as we received the opportunity to engage directly with the locals who were affected. The predetermined notions we had of Barpak as a small rural village completely shattered by the earthquakes was challenged. In reality, it is a sophisticated developed settlement, rich with resources and facilities. However, an immediate help is required regarding housing techniques, waste management, and temporary energy needs until the micro-hydro system gets fully functioning. WPN plans to work closely with Story Cycle to help deliver efficient and effective solutions to these issues raised.

Written by: Zubin Shrestha & Francis Yoo

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WindPower Nepal Pvt Ltd.)

An economic problem of the world lies in the fact that human wants are infinite but the resources are limited. To cater to the increasing demands of growing population, one of the most important aspects is energy. Energy is indispensable part of our life, for it is required in our day-to-day activities and the industries which provide us various commodities are dependent on energy. Traditional energy, which includes petroleum products and firewood, are limited and finite resources. Since traditional energy are not sustainable in the long run, there is a much-needed transition to renewable energy technologies like solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, etc. Although renewable energy scenario has improved a lot in the developed nations, Nepal, being one of the developing countries, is still lagging behind and has not been able to tap into its resources properly.

One such renewable resource is wind energy. Wind energy is one of the important renewable energies. Energy harnessed from the air in motion is known as wind energy. Kinetic energy present in the wind is converted to electric energy with help of wind turbines. The blades tap in the air current and rotates the shaft connected to the generator and thus generates electricity.

According to the Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA), a study conducted by Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) with the support of United Nations Environment Program/Global Environment Facility (UNEP/GEF), Nepal has a theoretical potential of producing about 3000MW of wind energy. However, the development of wind energy in Nepal is still at a very slow rate. Although a single wind turbine can produce up to 8MW of energy, the highest installed capacity of a single wind turbine in Nepal is merely 5KW. One of the important reasons why Nepal has not been able to tap into the wind energy is because of the lack of a wind map and capital investment.

Unlike the water resources for hydro power, the wind resource is localized to specific place and this cannot be changed. Optimum wind velocity must be determined to systematically place wind turbine in order to maximize the wind energy output. Velocity of the air increases with increase in height. Air near the surface has lower wind speed due to the drag created by land or water. In addition, air is more turbulent near the surface due to buildings, industries and vegetation. Thus, there is a much needed wind resource assessment specific to the site. Wind mapping can be done by installing a metrological tower with anemometers and wind direction vane at various heights to measure wind speed and wind direction. Wind speed and the direction are stored by using a suitable data logger which records the information provided by various sensors at pre-specified intervals. The wind data must be collected for at least a year to create a wind profile which allows the developers to tap into the turbulent free and stable wind velocity to maximize output of wind turbines.

Various governmental as well as private organizations are taking initiatives to promote wind energy in Nepal. Small wind turbines are used for off-grid electrification in few places by AEPC in conjunction with other private parties. In most cases, AEPC has followed a demand driven approach to install the wind mast or wind-solar hybrid system. Usually locals from off-grid communities with good wind resource would approach to AEPC. AEPC would then commission consultants or experts to verify the claim. The experts would ideally look into satellite wind data, usually the one provided by NASA, and go on a field visit to study proxy indicators, such as bent trees, to reconfirm if it is a windy area. They would also use held anemometer to collect wind data on the spot. Once, it is confirmed that the area is windy, then AEPC would go ahead with the installation of wind mast or small wind-solar hybrid system, depending on the project scope. At present, AEPC with the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB) is venturing into wind measurement in various locations, under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Power System Expansion project, with an aim to install wind-solar hybrid projects for off-grid electrification and productive end use in rural areas.

WindPower Nepal (WPN), a private company, on the other hand has won the prestigious contract from the World Bank group under the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) project to prepare wind map of Nepal. WPN, in collaboration with Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and 3E, Belgium aims to install 80-100m wind met mast at 10 different locations and create a wind map of Nepal. The three-year long project will create a model capable of predicting wind speed and direction at various heights with minimal error based on the wind data obtained from the 80-100m masts at different locations. After the completion of this project, wind energy developers and stake holders can access wind data by inputting the geographical co-ordinates of Nepal and thus enabling them to design suitable wind farms in the small as well as in the Megawatt scale.

Wind map can serve as an indicator of whether or not the wind farm can be designed in that specific site. It also gives various information about optimum wind velocity and wind direction, thereby enables developers to select suitable wind turbines and optimum installation height to maximize output. In conclusion, wind energy can become one pie of the energy pizza in Nepal, thus complimenting other resources such as hydro, solar and biomass. However, for that, it is imperative to have a countrywide wind map first.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WindPower Nepal Pvt Ltd.)

Wind Power Nepal Pvt. Ltd. (WPN) jointly with Creating Smiles and Nepal Banau distributed solar generator sets for government schools and earthquake affected people at Ratamata village, Jhagajhuli VDC, Sindhuli district.

WPN CEO Kushal Gurung said “We are glad to distribute solar generator sets to earthquake affected people personally”. He also thanked to Nepal Banau for sponsoring the kits and Creating Smiles for managing the logistics.

Energy storage has been the most challenging task to handle from the beginning of the human race, and they have continuously been trying to store more energy effectively and efficiently. Energy can be used either directly through the sun or indirectly, storing it for future use, from ancient time to balance its supply and demand. Energy storage systems can be broadly categorized as mechanical, electrical, chemical, biological and thermal. Nowadays, renewable energy deployment and policies to modernize the electricity production and consumption are propelling numerous advances including increased battery storage. This technology stores energy in the form of chemical and can be located at the point of end users or at the grid level. Its use can allow for greater amount of renewable electricity into the grid and as well as contribute in system reliability.

The cost of batteries has been falling day by day along with the advancement in technology, and such batteries have become safer and more efficient. However, battery storage system needs to overcome various barriers to become the main line of energy. The rapid growth in variable renewable energy like Solar and Wind is changing the conventional electricity system into modern type of electricity system. At high levels of penetration, variable renewable energy increases the need for resources that contribute to system flexibility. This ensures that system stability is maintained by matching supply and demand of electricity. Battery storage is one of the options for enhancing system flexibility in these circumstances by managing electricity supply fluctuations. In multiple application areas around the world, batteries have been used to aid integration of renewable energy.

Lead acid battery has been around for over 100 years. It is popular mainly due to its low costs & widespread availability. Large-format lead-acid designs are widely used for storage in backup power supplies in telecom towers, high-availability settings like hospitals, and stand-alone power systems. As Lead Acid is a proven technology and relatively cheaper, they are still used in majority of starting-ignition-lighting applications such as car battery. However, its low energy-to-weight ratio and a low energy-to-volume ratio became its constraint for its use in places where weight is the major concern. Also it is not very environmentally friendly as the electrolyte and the lead content can cause environmental damage.

Lithium Based batteries are quickly becoming a reasonable replacement for Lead-Acid batteries. In applications where weight is a consideration, Lithium batteries are among the lightest options available. Lithium-Ion batteries and Lithium Polymer batteries are the most energy dense of the Lithium batteries, but they are lacking in safety. The LiFePO4 (also known as Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries are the safest type of Lithium batteries as they will not overheat, and even if punctured they will not catch on fire. LiFePO4 has the highest cycle life and also most environmental friendly battery.

In May 2015, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled its new product “Powerwall,” who imagines the world on the road to “enabling zero emissions power generation.” He believes that the “Powerwall” will help to start to wean the world off fossil fuels. It is a backup power source not much different from the generators. Another top battery manufacturer BYD, a Chinese company, also offers eco-friendly, sustainable and safe Energy Storage System, which has been widely recognized. Based on advanced Iron (Fe) based battery technology, intelligent battery management system, reliable power conversion system, BYD provides integrated containerized solution.

The use of battery storage in remote areas presents one of the ripest applications for expansion. Diesel generation is costly and polluting, and fuel imports create supply risk, among many things. More renewable energy with batteries at the grid level and at the production site can decrease the necessity of diesel generation, increase clean renewable energy supply and enhance system reliability and stability. The declining costs of solar PV systems and batteries are revolutionizing this market. The combination of solar PV systems and batteries is still more expensive in many areas than retail electricity prices. However, this combination will become cost-competitive in some areas over the next few years in an environment where retail electricity prices are increasing.

In conclusion, batteries are already facilitating the transition towards renewable-based power systems in remote areas and in urban areas for emergency backup systems. Cost falling down are not merely parameter that will determine the attraction towards different battery storage systems. Instead, the attraction and value of battery storage technologies for renewable integration will depend on creating an appropriate low carbon ecosystem with significant interplay among policy, regulation, business models, and consumers.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WindPower Nepal Pvt Ltd.)

Wind Power Nepal Pvt. Ltd. (WPN) jointly with Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA), distributed solar generator sets for earthquake affected families in Chaughare VDC, Lalitpur district. The solar kits were donated by The Mayor Hotel, Denmark.

For more information, check our ECCA blog: http://bit.ly/2bvFcdz

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Digo Bikas Institute and WindPower Nepal Pvt. Ltd. for collaboration to support earthquake victims in various districts of Nepal.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Saran Renewable Energy and WindPower Nepal Pvt. Ltd. with the purpose of technical collaboration for biomass gasifier system and/or electricity generation.

An agreement was made between Tepia Corporation Japan Co. Ltd, a Japanese corporation and Windpower Nepal Pvt. Ltd for the generation of wind power business in Nepal.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between WEnergy Global Pvt Ltd. and WindPower Nepal Pvt. Ltd with the objectives to jointly plan, design, build renewable energy, RE-hybrid power plants and related power infrastructure to provide clients operations and maintenance services.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between SunFarmer Nepal Pvt. Ltd and WindPower Nepal Pvt. Ltd for creating Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems for development of micro grid systems. Both parties agreed to work together in the spirit of partnership to ensure that there is a unified and demonstrated, administrative and managerial commitment to achieving the objective of agreement.

An agreement was signed between Renewable World – Nepal and Windpower Nepal Pvt. to collaborate on pre-project work for a new project located in the east of Nepal to commission a wind and solar hybrid energy hub for the supply electricity for domestic and commercial purposes.