ADB & World Bank: Boosting Nepal's Hydropower

Kathmandu, Dec 7 (PTI) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank have joined hands to strengthen Nepal's enormous potential in its hydropower sector, specifically in the context of the proposed Upper Arun and Dudh Koshi hydropower projects.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) stipulating cooperation between the two institutions – Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) – for an initial period of five years was signed on the sidelines of COP28 by ADB Vice-President for Sectors and Themes Fatima Yasmin and World Bank Vice-President for South Asia Martin Raiser on Wednesday, a statement from the ADB said.

“ADB is committed to promoting clean energy solutions that align with climate action goals. Our commitment goes beyond generating power; it's also about creating positive impacts on communities, livelihoods, and the environment and contributing to a more sustainable future for all,” Yasmin said in the statement.

“The full potential of Nepal's enormous hydropower resources cannot be realised without close partnership between the Nepalese government, development partners and the private sector,” Raiser said, adding, that with this MoU, ADB and the World Bank are laying the foundations for closer collaboration in financing and policy advice in Nepal's hydropower sector.

This is the first MoU signed between ADB and the World Bank following the joint statement on strengthening collaboration for greater impact issued by the heads of MDBs at the World Bank–International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Marrakesh in October 2023, the statement added.

According to the Nepal Hydropower Association, with approximately 1.45 GW of installed capacity, hydropower provides almost all of Nepal's domestic electricity generation on the grid.