The South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation Power Transmission and Distribution System Strengthening (SASEC) Power Transmission and Distribution System Strengthening Project (PTDSSP) (the project), supported by the Asian Development Bank, aims to reinforce and modernize power supply system in and around Kathmandu Valley in Bagmati Province. This project also will begin strengthening distribution systems outside of Kathmandu in a systematic and phased manner starting with the submetropolitan Bharatpur area of Chitwan district in Province 3 and Pokhara of Kaski district in Province 4 where power supply interruptions are frequent and prolonged. The project also will support Province 2 where the quality of electricity supply is poor and around 20 percent of households are still without access to the national grid.
This Technical Assistance (TA) will contribute to the overall objective of the SASEC project. Specifically, it will support Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to strengthen its Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) mainstreaming process in a manner that ensures social inclusion while improving the access, reliability, and efficiency of power supply throughout the country. At the same time, it will demonstrate a pro-poor and gender-responsive service delivery model in Madhesh Province, including productive use of energy, electric cooking, and employment generation. By doing so, it is expected to contribute to the national goal of 100 percent electricity access by 2022, including supporting the government’s priority on electric cooking, as reflected in the new tariff structure that encourages the use of electricity by the poor and disadvantaged for cooking. ENERGIA, the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy hosted by Hivos, Netherlands as a lead organization along with Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal (CRTN) and the National Association of Community Electricity Users-Nepal (NACEUN) are implementing the TA project from April 2021 to September 2024. The project is supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB) with funding from Royal Norwegian Embassy and co-funding from Sida. The TA is working to empower and upgrade the skills and capabilities of the excluded, including women, to access employment and to use electricity productively and efficiently, and harness new business opportunities arising from electricity, thereby spurring much-needed economic development in Province 2. In this regards, the project intends to assess the labour market and employment opportunities in Madhesh Province through a nationally hired consulting firm.