New Award Continues Winrock Legacy of Creating Clean Energy Markets in Nepal
U.K.-funded project will accelerate clean cookstove market growth
Winrock International has been named to lead a new initiative to accelerate clean cookstove market growth funded by the U.K.’s DFID-funded Modern Energy Cooking Services Challenge Fund at Loughborough University.
Winrock has supported Nepal’s clean energy transition since the early 2000s, collaborating with both the public and private sector to create the current enabling environment for electric cookstove market growth. These contributions have played a significant role in Nepal’s development journey toward self-reliance and energy security through the creation of a reliable and resilient energy supply. For nearly 20 years, Winrock has facilitated the creation of clean energy markets, reduced emissions and forest degradation and improved indoor air quality.
More than 68 percent of households in Nepal still depend on traditional biomass such as fuelwood, agricultural residue and animal dung for cooking, using inefficient traditional cookstoves. These inefficient cooking technologies require high wood fuel consumption, which causes forest degradation. Incomplete fuel combustion emits greenhouse gases and harmful smoke, contributing to climate change, health issues and preventable deaths.
Remarkably, a nation that recently suffered chronic blackouts is now poised to achieve an energy surplus for the first time in its history. The Government of Nepal intends to provide 100 percent electricity access by 2022 and to achieve clean cooking for all by 2030.
Through the U.K.’s DFID-funded Modern Energy Cooking Services program at Loughborough University, Winrock will evaluate the market feasibility of electric pressure cooker (EPC) adoption. This initiative will determine the pricing and product preferences of consumers and identify barriers to EPC use as well as opportunities to accelerate market growth. Findings will inform future efforts to accelerate clean cookstove market growth, such as financing solutions that allow households to quickly reap the health and financial benefits of clean cooking despite the initial cost of a cooking appliance.
“Winrock was part of Nepal’s first steps toward reliable electricity nearly 20 years ago when we engaged the private sector to expand hydropower. We are proud to build on that legacy through these new projects that support the government and people of Nepal in their journey toward energy security, 100-percent electricity access and nationwide clean cooking,” said Bikash Pandey, director of clean energy at Winrock International. “Nepal’s leadership in clean energy has proven that electricity access and clean cooking with electric appliances is an attainable solution for countries and communities of all income levels.”
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