| Abstract |
After a silence of three decades, the government of Nepal made a modest beginning to launch geothermal programme in 2001 by updating the profile of few geothermal locations that are popular and accessible. This was in recognition of the role of geothermal energy reflected in the Ninth Plan (1996-2001). The ever-increasing political and economic crisis in Nepal over the past 8 years caused serious impact on the continuity of this energy sub-sector as well. The Alternate Energy Promotion Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology vows to exploit geo-thermal energy in the future. Definite programmes on geothermal energy are yet to emerge in the current Tenth Plan (2002-2007). Some noteworthy efforts are undertaken by the local geothermal management committees with the financial support of the rural people in upgrading the physical infrastructures in some geothermal locations. This has created positive feedback effect by attracting more people and thus, increasing revenues for the physical expansion through local resources. Since most geothermal areas are located in the northern and remote regions of Nepal, geothermal exploitation is not regarded economically viable at the moment because of the heavy investment associated with the construction of roads. Nepal witnessed a very encouraging development in road construction during the geothermal update period 2001-2005. The expansion of south-north road network is expected to produce a dramatic positive result in the future geothermal energy. Added to this is the planned opening of more trade ports at the border between Nepal and the Tibetan autonomous region of China by the year 2005. This will directly boost the use of some more thermal locations. Apart from the ongoing popularization activities in the direct use of geothermal energy in Nepal, it is highly desirable that pilot projects in some potential locations are initiated in order to attract the private as well as the public sector |