Nepal to host hydropower investment meeting next month

Nepal will host an international hydropower investment meeting next month here with a view to attract foreign investments for medium and large-scale projects in the energy-starved country.
The two-day meet will begin on August 28.
The conference is being organised at the initiative of the Hydropower Investment and Development Company Ltd, a government undertaking in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Energy.
Nepal has the potential of generating at least 45,000 MW hydroelectricity power in an economically viable way but the country is currently utilising around just one per cent of its total capacity, providing ample opportunity for foreign investors to invest in the power sector there.

The meeting is expected to be very fruitful in bringing investment in hydropower sectors at this time as the government has identified hydropower development as a priority development agenda in its plan and policies, the Ministry of Energy said in a statement.
"The main focus of the meeting will be to showcase specific medium and large scale hydropower projects and to attract investments for such projects."

"The meeting will provide a platform to the participants to discuss about the potential projects in detail with concerned stakeholders giving their inputs," the statement said.
"The meeting will be a follow up activity of the Investors Forum in 2011, and a reflection of Asian Development Bank's continued commitment to the development of the power sector of Nepal."

Nepal has been suffering from a power shortage and long load-shedding hours for many years despite huge potential in hydropower development.
"The proposed meeting of the investors and financers will focus on specific projects which can be materialised within the next few years so that the country's power scarcity could be resolved soon", it said.