SOPPAN Urges Decisive Policy Reform to Accelerate Green Energy Transition

KATHMANDU; The Solar Power Producers Association Nepal (SOPPAN) has urged the government to implement coherent policy action to accelerate the country to green energy transition.

Speaking at the launch of Huawei’s latest utility scale solar inverter, the SUN2000506KTL, the SOPPAN President Sandip Shah emphasized the urgency of aligning Nepal’s renewable energy policy with its ambitious national targets. According to him, solar technology-based energy generation provides flexibility, resilience, and daytime reliability despite the fact that hydropower has remained as Nepal’s backbone in the energy sector.

Nepal’s NDC 3.0 commits to take renewable capacity to 14,031 MW by 2030, along with government's ambitious plan to install total production capacity to 28,500–30,000 MW by 2035. Yet, solar currently contributes only 155 MW in the national grid.

Key policies that the SOPPAN has sought from the government include removal of the 10 percent barrier for renewable, and extension of generation licenses and PPAs to 50 years. In addition, the umbrella organization has urged the government to come up with clear policy for license boundary amendments, insurance premiums for property damage set below hydro’s 0.15 percent, announcement of the next auction for solar and BESS and recognition that solar requires its own framework, not one borrowed from hydro.

Acknowledging Huawei's new products to help promote production of green energy, Shah underlined that technology is moving fast in the segment. "Our responsibility is to ensure Nepal’s policy and infrastructure move at the same pace,” he said.