Regional Power Trade: Toward a Green, Clean and Energy-Secure South Asia

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Regional Power Trade: Toward a Green, Clean and Energy-Secure South Asia

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00:00 Welcome and introductions
02:41 Ensuring energy-security and clean energy transition in South Asia
08:53 Expansion of energy systems in Nepal and scope of regional energy trade
21:06 Role of India in regional power trade and opportunities of renewable
25:25 Regional energy trade in Bhutan. The potential of hydropower energy
30:34 Role of private sector in ensuring energy resilience in Bangladesh
36:45 The future of energy market: Drivers for more integrated markets in South Asia
40:24 Regional energy trade: High investments in hydropower and associated risks
44:48 Challenges for private sector and role of public-private partnership
52:44 Experiences from other regions on efficient markets
1:01:10 Combining hydro and solar projects: Exploring new markets
1:05:15 Vision for greater regional energy trade: Setting up a regional energy grid
1:12:37 Role of renewables and decarbonizing economies in energy trade
1:17:00 Aspirational changes in regional energy trade
1:21:46 Summarizing and closing remarks

“Since 2015, with the World Bank support, the cross-border power transmission capacity increased threefold — from 2.1 gigawatts to 6.4 gigawatts — mainly driven by projects connecting India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. The World Bank is also supporting infrastructure for electricity transmission and trade between Central Asia-South Asia, to better utilize hydro and thermal generation resources."

— Hartwig Schafer, Vice President, South Asia Region, World Bank

"There is a need for a common understanding and political will among South Asian countries of regional energy trade. We also need commercial rules to govern this market as well as technical rules to enable reliable operations and cross-border investments. There has never been a better time to act than now."

— Cecile Fruman, Director, Regional Integration and Engagement, South Asia, World Bank

“Investments in hydropower are very important to Bhutan. We are looking to our bilateral trade with India, and also looking to expand to regional trade with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and anyone else who is looking to purchase power.”

— Chhewang Rinzin, Managing Director, Druk Green Power Corporation Ltd, Bhutan

“There is a market for renewables in South Asia. Hydropower can be bundled with solar power, and round-the-clock power. This will bring the cost of electricity down in the future. Demand for power is increasing and there is a need to meet renewables targets for each country."

— Kulman Ghising, Managing Director, Nepal Electricity Authority

"Energy transition is not a single-country approach, we are past that. The next era should look into cross-border energy exchanges, which are a little bit more complicated because they involve borders, diplomacy, and geographies."

— Mahua Acharya, Chief Executive, Convergence Energy Services Ltd, India

“Bangladesh has a goal of reducing emissions between 7 to 15% and adding 1 to 4 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030. We believe that cross-border trade will be instrumental in achieving those goals because of the relatively greater renewable resource which exists in the neighboring countries.”

— Nicholas Padgalskas, Chief Financial Officer, Summit Power International, Bangladesh

Speakers

Moderator

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Julie Vorman

Hi, everyone - A few  energy questions and comments have been posted here and there's plenty of time to add yours. Don't be shy! Our panelists want to know what is on your mind.
Thu, 01/27/2022 - 19:10
Partha

As South Asia is get good aamount of sun light throughout the year , one needs to study and explore how electricity generation using solar energy can be harvested in both urban & rural areas and can be converted into cottage industry where everyone Owning open spaces can set up electricity generation units at home at low investment ? Thanks in advance
Sat, 01/29/2022 - 14:57
Kandarpa Nath

With due respect, I have an idea to share. If we can connect Southern Part of China through Northeastern part of India ( which is easily accessible ). We can be connected to the Asian countries and reduce the electricity problem of our country. I would be glad if this issue is being raised and discussed in the meeting. Thank You
Sat, 01/29/2022 - 14:58
Nasif

We know that south asia has some of the densely populated areas in the world and as a result those areas has little amount of land recourses to properly install a solar or wind farm, with also day by day those areas getting more populas with a surge in power deamd. So my question is how are we going to introduce green fresh energy via regional power trade to those areas with a very less amount of land recourses in spike of the growing power demand.
Sat, 01/29/2022 - 15:41
Mansav

Delightful to be a partHow global powers contributed to increase gdp of developing countries
Sat, 01/29/2022 - 15:44

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