Renewable energy for agriculture

Objectives

• Provide a platform to exchange knowledge on solar irrigation in Nepal
• Facilitate policy dialogues with policymakers, development partners, and stakeholders to improve the government’s solar irrigation initiatives and make them more socially inclusive, scalable, and sustainable
• Identify key gaps in research and opportunities for future work in Nepal’s solar irrigation sector

Expected outputs

• Increased understanding and knowledge exchange among participants about solar irrigation practices in Nepal
• Enhanced policy dialogues may improve the government’s solar irrigation initiatives
• Identify critical research gaps and opportunities for future work in Nepal’s solar irrigation sector

Theme 1 – Scaling solar irrigation in Nepal

Solar irrigation is an established technology widely adopted in Nepal. The government has actively promoted solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) as a climate-friendly alternative to diesel pumps. However, because of the significant upfront capital investment required, solar irrigation programmes in Nepal heavily rely on subsidies. As a result, the market size for solar irrigation is often determined by the available budget for subsidising pumps rather than actual demand. This session will delve into the strategies for scaling up solar irrigation in Nepal with an innovative business model, including exploring opportunities for off-grid solar irrigation systems and investigating the possibility of grid integration of SIPs.

This session will explore the following:

• Potential for expanding off-grid solar irrigation systems in rural areas lacking grid access
• Benefits of integrating SIPs with the grid and their role in enhancing the scalability of solar irrigation
• Building a scalable business model for solar irrigation with subsidies and financing options

Theme 2 – Social inclusion in designing solar irrigation programmes

Solar irrigation programmes hold immense promise. Their success however, hinges on community ownership and adoption of the technology. Moreover, there is a disproportionate focus on the electro-mechanical and technical fixes. This neglects the vital socio-political and economic context within which these programmes operate. Failing to account for societal realities as an integral part of planning, design, and implementation hinders the effective transfer of solar lift technologies. This session dives into this challenge, exploring the need to integrate social inclusion into solar programmes.

This session will explore the following:

• Importance of social inclusion for sustainable solar irrigation programmes
• Practitioners’ experiences, both successes and challenges, of engaging with communities on these projects
• Strategies to build community ownership, ensuring programme adoption and long-term success

Theme 3: Making solar irrigation programmes more sustainable

In Nepal, more than three thousand SIPs were installed by AEPC and even more are installed by provincial and local governments. The demand for SIPs is growing, with significant investment made. However, various reports highlight the sustainability issues of the systems, some of which are related to poor construction standards and operation and maintenance (O&M) services. Furthermore, frequent issues result in farmers not trusting the technology, limiting its adoption.

Without ensuring challenges related to the sustainability of solar irrigation programmes, the government’s investment is ineffective, and farmers cannot maximise the benefits of solar irrigation systems.

This session will explore the following:

• Practical challenges that limit timely and effective O&M services
• Issues (social aspects, groundwater sustainability) that limit the sustainability of solar irrigation programmes
• Initiatives taken by solar irrigation programmes, installer companies, and supplier companies to overcome the challenges

For more information: https://solar.iwmi.org/events-list/empowering-agriculture-with-renewable-energy-for-sustainable-irrigation-and-inclusive-policies/

The productive uses of renewable energy aims to harness renewable energy for activities that boost income and welfare across sectors such as agriculture, rural enterprise, health, and education. While the goals of the productive uses of renewable energy are maximising the social and economic benefits that energy access can catalyse, contribute to achievement of SDGs/ nationally determined contributions (NDC) and enhance the financial viability of the electrification projects, achieving them necessitates collaboration between public and private stakeholders.

The fragmented nature of discussions around the productive uses of renewable energy underscores the need for a coordinated effort to accelerate its implementation, particularly in mountainous regions, where energy access is crucial for building resilience against climate change impacts.

Objectives

• Facilitate experience and learning sharing on productive uses of renewable energy in agriculture sector across diverse contexts to create a comprehensive understanding of successful applications and challenges faced under different settings
• Bring together policymakers, experts, scientists, and practitioners to discuss perspectives and insights for scaling renewable energy solutions, fostering collaboration, and aligning diverse viewpoints for effective implementation in agriculture sector
• Deliberate on innovative ideas to increase the adoption of renewable energy solutions, modernise productive sectors, and enhance resilience under evolving circumstances, generating creative solutions to overcome challenges and promote sustainable practices

Expected outputs

• Gain insights into challenges, knowledge gaps, and visions in the region to increase the productive uses of renewable energy in agriculture sector against climate change, informing strategic interventions by identifying critical areas that require attention
• Develop a shared understanding of challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned by practitioners to enhance the uptake of renewable energy solutions for productive applications through collaborative learning and dissemination of best practices
• Formulate key policy recommendations for mainstreaming and scaling renewable energy solutions for productive applications, translating insights and shared understanding into actionable policies that promote widespread adoption of renewable energy solutions

Agenda

The forum will cover plenary and parallel sessions with presentations and diverse panels under four key thematic areas:

• Groundwater sustainability, adaptation, and mitigation
• Business models of SIPs and scaling up of solar irrigation
• The role of communities: Capacity building and Gender, Equity and Social Inclusion
• Designing effective and inclusive policies for solar energy transitions

Objectives

• Demonstrate key lessons learned from South Asia on the effectiveness of solar irrigation as a viable strategy for sustainable agri-food systems
• Provide a platform for policymakers, public and private sector partners, and scientists to exchange ideas and experiences on key barriers and opportunities in the uptake of solar irrigation
• Share innovative ideas and strategies for supporting south-south collaboration to suitably scale up solar irrigation globally, including ideas for future research

For more information: https://solar.iwmi.org/events-list/global-science-policy-forum-socially-inclusive-solar-irrigation-systems/