Nepal coordination call 5.14.2015

Participants and contact details:

  • Nepal government energy focal points
  • Shekhar Sharma (Alternative Energy Promotion Centre)
  • Humanitarian implementers
  • Oriol Lopez (MSF)
  • Shanti Kleiman (Mercy Corps)
  • Lighting/powering sector
  • Chloe Chapman (Empower Generation)
  • Pabla van Heck (GOGLA)
  • Sandeep Giri (Gham Power)
  • Cooking/fuel sector
  • Tim Bauer (Envirofit)
  • Corinne Hart (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves)
  • Also serving as general SAFE SC co-chair
  • Katherine Arnold (Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves)
  • Also serving as general SAFE SC co-chair
  • Protection sector
  • Megan Gerrard (WRC)
  • Also serving as general SAFE SC co-chair

Summary of new response activities:

  • Energy rapid needs assessments
  • NGO coordination group is doing country-wide needs assessment after 2nd earthquake, should have results soon – unclear if they are including energy in assessment
  • Solar lantern/power distributions:
  • MSF planning to send 50-100 IKEA shelters to Arughat town in Gorkha: these include solar panels for lighting/charging
  • Government of Nepal’s Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC)is currently evaluating bids for bulk solar lantern distribution – will update soon with intended locations for distributions
  • Gham Power has created mapping of solar lighting/power needs: has covered 16 of the 81 requests, still have 65 cases that need assistance
  • Stove/fuel distributions:
  • MSF planning to send 50-100 BioLite home cookstovestoArughat town in Gorkha
  • Government of Nepal’s Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) will be releasing procurement note this week or next for 7,000 portable cookstoves, and have also put in a funding request for another 100,000 cookstoves with after sales service, etc.
  • Both will be done by public standard procurement
  • Will occur next week – they are in contact w/ suppliers in India and elsewhere
  • Envirofit is working with Himalayan Stoves Project to bring in 20 institutional stoves, and is planning to bring in another 40 soon. Planning to make available for rental by aid agencies.

Detailed updates on current energy activities in Nepal:

General updates

  • MSF
  • MSF is focusing its work in Gorkha, set up field hospital in town of Arughat
  • First team of the emergency unit leaving next week – Oriol will join second team in Nepal soon
  • Planning to send 50-100 shelters (the ones IKEA developed w/ UNHCR)
  • Planning to send 50-100 stoves (BioLite home stoves)
  • They are having some difficulty transporting because they weigh about 10 kilos, so very heavy
  • Supply routes are complicated – having to deliver supplies by hand
  • Government of Nepal, AEPC
  • Providing energy solutions for survivors that were most affected
  • Hit again by second earthquake on May 12, all planned response was disturbed yet again
  • Have gathered data on exact # tentative number of people staying in temporary settlements, it is huge (at least 2 million)
  • Efforts so far have included providing solar lighting, mobile charging, etc.
  • AEPC is in charge of government energy product procurement for the response
  • AEPC is preparing to Procurement note will be released soon on cookingprocure cooking solutions (pPortable ICS) and should get official approval soon to publish procurement –notice –tThe stoves are not only meant for temporary settlements, since as the sStoves will be equally useful when they will finally move to their permanent houses. This proposed procurement package will be as below:
  • Roughly 7,000 cookstoves for immediate relief, will be portable (no chimney)
  • Have also put in a funding request to EDPs for bulk purchase of an additional 100,000 cookstoves
  • Will want to have after sales service
  • Will be done by public standard procurementspecial provisions through theis 'Public Procurement Act'
  • Will occur next week – they are in contact w/ suppliers in India and elsewhere
  • At the moment, there is a need for institutional stoves but they are difficult to purchase and thus more focus has been placed on stoves meant for household /family cooking – looking for funders that can buy and provide support to people living in temporary settlements and cooking their mean in a group. These stoves are also needed for institutions.
  • Comment from others: Would be helpful to have info on which exact villages these solar lanterns are going to, so that Gham Power can add to their mapping
  • AEPC will try to provide information on their website or through some other applicable medium
  • Mercy Corps
  • 20,000 solar lights being distributed w/in NFI kits
  • Waiting on NGO team assessment data
  • Did own assessment for the first earthquake
  • For second quake, there is an NGO coordination team
  • Country director said beyond mobile phone charging, they aren’t seeing many energy needs as a top priority
  • Gham Power
  • Based in Kathmandu, been in Nepal for over 5 years w/ total of 600 projects
  • Mobile phone charging and lights, temporary shelters and in rural areas
  • Map is consolidating all the requests they are getting as a company – is scraping some data from Kathmandu living labs’ quake map:
  • But there isn’t a space specifically for requests of energy, so they have created one here:
  • Total of 81 requests they know of – each of these requests are for multiple products
  • 65 requests are still open – please look at any of these
  • Have a small team in San Francisco – mostly involved in raising funds for this project
  • Centralized charging is the biggest need right now – that’s what they are focused on right now
  • Happy to share google maps link
  • GOGLA – No updates
  • Envirofit
  • Distribution partner is Himalayan Stoves Project
  • Will be bringing in 20 institutional stoves – would have 2 stoves at each targeted site to prepare rice and lentils
  • 2nd earthquake shut down their transportation, will move them as soon as possible
  • Trying to bring in another 40 stoves, make them available for rental to help some of the humanitarian orgs on the ground that need them
  • A doctor they know hasopened up a clinic and is providing first response
  • Did a need assessment that highlighted community cooking need in hospitals, ppl are finding it difficult to prepare enough food efficiently
  • Empower Generation
  • Everyone on their team is okay
  • Have been working w/ freight, anyone can let them know if they need help or have help to offer
  • Will have additional lights available for distribution, arriving in the next few weeks
  • WRC – no updates
  • Alliance
  • Continuing to host weekly coordination calls
  • Coordinating with government focal points on energy access needs and response
  • Updating and maintaining Nepal energy response website here: