Promotion of cogeneration in industries could be one of the cost effective alternatives to reduce the electricity supply gap existing in the country. This was opined by representatives from government, private – industries and banks, and academia during a workshop on cogeneration organized from 15 – 16 December 2013 by Energy Efficiency Center - Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EEC -FNCCI) with support from Nepal Energy Efficiency Programme (NEEP). EEC is an autonomous center functioning under the umbrella of FNCCI is supported by NEEP for implementation of Energy Efficiency in Industries.

 The workshop was organized with an objective to provide a single platform for various stakeholders to assess the opportunities and barriers in promoting cogeneration in Nepal. During the workshop it was concluded that promotion of cogeneration can be a win-win situation as it can be a viable option for improving power supply situation in the country while industrial consumers can generate electricity on their own to meet its own power need. However, there is absence of conducive policy that encourages promotion of system technically and financially. Around 45 representatives from various institutions including Ministry of Industry (MoI), Ministry of Energy (MoE), Water and Commission Secretariat (WECS), Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), local engineering institutions, representatives from local industries, vendors of cogeneration technologies from India and GIZ participated in the event.

 Cogeneration is defined as the sequential generation of two different forms of useful energy from a single primary energy source, typically thermal energy and electrical/mechanical energy. While international experiences have revealed sugar industry as a prime candidate for cogeneration system; other industries such as pulp & paper, rice mills, brewery also have the potential.

Prior to this workshop, a team of policy makers and executive staffs from the government, nongovernment and private sector organizations have participated in a cogeneration study tour in India from 11th to 15th February 2013. During the study tour organized by GIZ ‘Regional Energy Efficiency Programme’ in cooperation with NEEP, the team had an opportunity to get acquainted with experience in India on implementation and operation of cogeneration technology. According to FNCCI there are 270 Industries in Nepal using boiler (e.g. sugar mills, paper mills, Ghee, chemical) with cogeneration potential.

 While cogeneration has been successful in many countries including India, the potential can also be tapped in Nepal, said Mr. Krishna Gyawali, Secretary, MoI during the opening session. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Krishna Chandra Paudel, Secretary of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat emphasized on the need of consensus among various stakeholders for promotion of the system in the country. Similarly, Dr. Hemant Dabadi emphasized on the pontential of cogeneration as an alternative source considering the existing electricity in the country. Citing examples from different countries where cogeneration has proved to be successful, Dr. Rolf Posorski, Programme Manager GIZ-NEEP highlighted on the need of conducive environment for the promotion of the system. During the workshop, Mr. Jeebach Mandal, Ministry of Energy; Mr. Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, CEO, Century  Bank; Shyam Agrawal, Reliance Paper Mills; Cyrus Engineer and Yohan Engineer, Industrial Boilers; Mr. Sugata Das, Thermax; Mr. Gurpeet Singh, PP Boilers; Rajesh Singhla, ISGEC; and Mr. Pawan Kumar and Mr. Bhisma Pandit, GIZ-Integration;  presentated on the technical and financial aspects of cogeneration system together with information from case industries where the system has already been established.

 Discussing on the existing opportunities and challenges in adopting co-generation for power generation, the workshop provided participants to get insights from the experiences in India. The participants also got acquainted with the significance of incentives schemes for viability of cogeneration in the country. Issues on evacuating excess power generated through cogeneration by the industries to the national grid including its advantages and foreseen bottlenecks were discussed during the workshop.

Further information:

Click here for more information on component 3 of NEEP
Click here for more information on Energy Efficiency Centre
Click here for Overview of Cogeneration Opportunities in Nepalese Sugar Sector

Click here for more information on Cogeneration