The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has signed agreement with Nepal Army (NA) to construct 240 large-scale biogas plants to generate energy from wastes in next two years.

In the wake of deepening energy crisis in the country, the government through AEPC has been promoting the promotion and development of alternative and clean energy technologies for cooking and lightening purposes, including the promotion of biogas plants. Ram Prasad Dhital, executive director at AEPC and Purna Bahadur Silwal, brigadier general in Nepal Army signed the memorandum of understanding the build biogas plant that would generate electricity from the wastes generated from various stations of NA in the next two years.

“This is a part of our attempt to make our security institutions self reliant on energy production and consumption,” said Dhital. Around 34 large biogas projects with a total installed capacity of 1,250M3, enough to replace 575 Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders a year, have been set up by the security agencies, commercial sector and religious institutions since the Indian blockade in Nepal, in the past nine months.

At present the government provides 60 percent subsidy on total cost of constructing a biogas plant to public institutions and 20 percent to private sector. In the next fiscal year, the government has targeted to construct 100 institutional large biogas plants, 100 commercial

biogas plants and 100,000 domestic biogas plants to become self-reliant in cooking energy.