ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
25 - 27 September 2013, Meeting Room-G, Bangkok
Regional Training Workshop on Widening Access to Energy Services
through Pro-Poor Public-Private Partnerships
Tentative Programme
Note: In every session, the brief presentations and / or videos are expected to set the context. As a follow-up,
an interactive discussion is encouraged.
25 September
Energy and Partnerships
0830 – 0900
Workshop Registration
0900 – 1000
Session 1: Project Overview and Status
Session Moderator: Mr. Kohji Iwakami, ESCAP
The Opening Session provides an overview of the program, status of pilot
projects in Lao P.D.R. and Nepal and, through national team introductions,
solicits expectations from the participants and introduces resource persons.
Opening Statement
Mr. Donovan Storey
Officer-in-Charge, Environment and Development Division
Regional Project Overview and Status
Mr. Hongpeng Liu
Chief, Energy Security and Water Resources Section, Environment and
Development Division
National Project Status & Team Introduction
Mr. Anousak Phongsavath
Deputy Director-General and Head of the Rural Electrification Fund Secretariat,
Lao P.D.R.
National Project Status & Team Introduction:
Mr. Ram Prasad Dhital
Assistant Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Center, Nepal
A Round of Introductions by Resource Persons, UN Agencies and Secretariat
1000 – 1030
Coffee Break
1030 – 1200
Session 2: Universal Access to Modern Energy Services
Session Moderator: Mr. Kohji Iwakami, ESCAP
The second session highlights the ongoing international efforts towards universal
access to modern energy services (including SE4ALL), emphasizes the linkages
between energy and development, and discusses energy needs for households, for
rural livelihoods and for community services.
Energy and Development, a short video (prepared for APEF 2013) and main
outcomes from APEF 2013 in Vladivostok
Mr. Sergey Tulinov
Economic Affairs Officer, Environment and Development Division, ESCAP
Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in the Asia-Pacific 2013, a short video and
key messages:
Mr. Thiyagarajan Velumail
Regional Advisor, United Nations Development Programme
Poor People’s Energy Outlook 2011-2013:
Mr. Vishwa Amatya
Head, Programme Energy, Practical Action Asia Regional Office
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. What is the current situation and what policy options exist towards
universal access to modern energy services using locally available
renewable energy resources?
2. What is the role of energy in broader development agenda? Is there a
potential to integrate energy policies with sectors such as tourism, rural
development, agriculture or, health?
3. What policies and partnerships are needed and; what is the role of private
sector - in moving towards universal access to modern energy services?
1200 – 1300
Lunch
1300 – 1430
Session 3: Public-Private Renewable Energy Partnerships
Session Moderator: Mr. Hongpeng Liu, ESCAP
This session highlights the concept of risk and how traditional public-private
partnerships and special purpose vehicles have evolved to reduce perceived risk
and encourage private investments in the infrastructure sector. The session also
explores whether some of these experiences may be transferred to smaller rural
projects and the role of other stakeholders such as NGOs and communities
themselves. To end with we also learn about concepts of project finance and
financial closure.
Partnerships and PPPs: A Primer
Ms. Jenny Yamamoto
Economic Affairs Officer, Transport Division, ESCAP
Role of Non-Profit Organizations in Rural Renewable Energy Partnerships
Mr. Sreyamsa Bairiganjan
Head, Enterprise Engagement and Research, New Ventures India
PPPs for Rural Energy Access
Mr. Debajit Palit
Associate Director, Social Transformation Division, The Energy and Resources
Institute (TERI), India
Project Finance and Financial Closure: An Overview
Mr. Sanjeev Tamhane
Programme Officer, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. What are the current policies and practices in encouraging private sector
participation in energy sector projects?
2. What are the key barriers or perceived risks that prohibit rural renewable
energy investments by (say) a) energy sector companies or b) other
investors such as tourist resort owners, telecom companies, etc.?
3. What policies and enabling environment is needed to encourage
partnerships for rural renewable energy initiatives?
1430 - 1500
Coffee break
1500 – 1700
Session 4: Discussion on National Outputs [National Concept & Feasibility]
Session Moderator: Mr. Xia Zuzhang, Energy for All Partnership Secretariat
This session starts with a plenary to share the concept of pro-poor public-private
partnership followed by 2 break-outs for two national teams (facilitated by
resource persons) and then come back to a plenary to present and discuss the
outcomes]
Pro-Poor Public-Private Partnerships (5Ps): Introduction
Suggested Discussion Areas [for break-outs]:
1. What is the national policy, current practices and, institutional
context for a) rural energy sector, b) rural development and c) private
sector participation?
2. Who are the key stakeholders [government, NGOs, CBOs, banks,
energy companies, communities, others] to be consulted for such an
initiative?
3. What are the legal and financial options to establish a [sustainable
and replicable] pilot project that helps to reduce risk for various
stakeholders in rural energy sector? – Discuss national concept for 5P
SPV [highlighting deviation from current practices]
4. What is the national strategy to select appropriate sites for pilot
projects? Identify factors [with weight-ages and site rankings] and
consultation process
5. What is the national strategy to assess selected sites for a possible
pilot project? Identify factors [with weight-ages and site rankings]
and consultation process
National Team Presentation: Lao PDR
Mr. Thammanoune Nakavith
Acting Director, Department of Energy Management, Ministry of Energy and
Mines, Lao PDR
National Team Presentation: Nepal
Mr. Ram P Dhital
Assistant Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Center, Nepal
26 September
Pro-Poor Business Plans
0900 – 1000
Session 5: Social Business Ventures
Session Moderator: Mr. Xia Zuzhang, Energy for All Partnership Secretariat
After first days’ emphasis on private sector participation in rural areas, this
session is to introduce a perspective for a discussion on social businesses through
an emphasis on community participation in rural investments. The session also
provides an overview of some business and revenue models for decentralized
rural energy enterprises.
Social Businesses: An IBEKA Perspective
Mr. Iskandar Kuntoadji
Board of Trustee, IBEKA, Indonesia
Business and Revenue (Pricing) Models for Decentralized Rural Renewable
Energy Enterprises
Mr. Sreyamsa Bairiganjan
Head, Enterprise Engagement and Research, New Ventures India
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. What is the role of energy in community development?
2. How can a participatory approach help identify sustainable rural energy
sector investments?
1000 – 1030
Coffee Break
1030 – 1200
Session 6: Pro-Poor Business Cases
Session Moderator: Mr. Vishwa Amatya, Practical Action Asia Regional Office
After a theoretical treatment on the topic, this session discusses some real-life
pro-poor business cases contributed by practitioners from around the region.
Partnership experiences from Lighting a Billion Lives programme
Mr. Debajit Palit
Associate Director, Social Transformation Division, The Energy and Resources
Institute (TERI), India
Partnership experiences from Grameen Shakti
Mr. Mohammad Shahidul Islam
Consultant, Grameen Shakti, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh
Partnership experiences from Bio-Gassifier Plant, Sri Lanka
Mr. Jatin Kapoor
Regional Head of Southeast Asia, Emergent Ventures International (EVI)
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. What are some of the factors that facilitate rural energy sector
partnerships?
2. What are the key challenges in the establishment and sustenance of
partnerships?
3. What is the role of federal and local governments to provide an enabling
environment to promote partnerships?
1200 – 1300
Lunch
1300 – 1430
Session 7: Financing Renewable Energy Projects
Session Moderator: Mr. Sanjeev Tamhane, UNEP
This session is a prelude to a discussion on drafting business plans to understand
national experiences of financial institutions of lending to small-and-medium
(SME) rural initiatives, to understand international experiences of financing
energy initiatives through value chain perspectives and, explore alternate
financing modes [such as micro-finance and carbon markets].
Case of Project Finance for Renewable Energy Sector, Nepal
Mr. Dinesh Dulal
Relationship Manager, Renewable Energy and Microfinance Department, Clean
Energy Development Bank, Nepal
Energy Value Chains and Finance: Experiences from CleanStart
Mr. Vincent Wierda
Programme Manager, CleanStart Programme, UNCDF
Case of Carbon Finance and Outlook for Small Scale Projects in LDCs
Mr. Sambit Nayak
Manager, Implementation, Southeast Asia, Emergent Ventures International
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. What kind of financing mechanisms and institutions should be in place to
reduce risk for the private sector? How can banks and financial
institutions eventually extend lending support to rural renewable energy
initiatives?
2. How value-chain financing / micro-financing and carbon finance could be
leveraged to help strengthen business plans before approaching a bank?
3. What roles can governments [such as guarantees or interest-subsidies]
and other stakeholders [such as buy-back guarantees from equipment
suppliers] play to ease requirements and ease private-sector’s access to
finance?
1430 - 1500
Coffee break
1500 – 1700
Session 8: Discussion on National Outputs [Pro-Poor Business Plans]
Session Moderator: Mr. Michael Williamson, APCTT
This session introduces the ideas of ‘people-first’ [socio-economic assessment]
and ‘profits-follow-people’ [market-assessment] followed by 2 break-outs for two
national teams (facilitated by resource persons) and then come back to a plenary
to present and discuss the outcomes].
Suggested Discussion Areas [for break-outs]:
1. What are the socio-economic challenges and how does the proposed
business solution address these while generating a positive revenue
stream?
2. What is the partnership model – a) Role of stakeholders, b) Capitalization
and ownership structure] and c) registration forms for 5P SPV?
3. Discuss the implementation strategy – process for establishing
agreements, bill of quantities, licenses and permits, schedule and risks
4. What is the financing model – a) Debt-to-equity ratio, b) Valuation of
community’s contribution as equity, c) Discounted cash-flow analysis of
5P SPV [NPV or Discounted Payback Period]
5. What are some key comments from a lenders’ perspective to strengthen
such a pro-poor business plan? [Can national banks comment based on
current lending practices?]
National Team Presentation: Lao P.D.R.
Mr. Charlie Soo Teck Shin
Managing Director, Tech-System Engineering Co., Ltd., Lao PDR
National Team Presentation: Nepal
Mr. Bivek Baral
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kathmandu
University, and Executive Director for Ananta Gassifer Pvt. Ltd., Nepal
27 September
From Pilot to Policy
0900 – 1000
Session 9: Integrating Rural Development and Energy Initiatives
Session Moderator: Mr. Hongpeng Liu, ESCAP
This session provides an overview of key challenges in national pilot projects and
how the stakeholder consultations have helped to address some of these followed
by a summary of Days 1 and 2. This session also discusses the on-going
supervision mission activities by IFAD before concluding with a brief discussion
on integrating rural development and energy initiatives and, value-chain financing
for agriculture.
Welcome Note
Key National Challenges & Summary of Days 1 and 2
Mr. Anousak Phongsavath [Day 1]
Deputy Director-General and Head of the Rural Electrification Fund Secretariat,
Lao P.D.R.
Mr. Surya Kumar Sapkota [Day 2]
Assistant Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Center, Nepal
IFAD’s Supervision Mission: An Overview
Mr. Ganesh Thapa
Director, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Italy
Integrating Rural Development and Energy Initiatives: IFAD’s Perspectives
Mr. Hari Upadhyay
Project Evaluation Specialist, International Fund for Agricultural Development,
Nepal
Value-Chain Finance in Agriculture
Mr. Marlowe Aquino
Project Manager, Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit (APRACA),
Bangkok
1000 – 1030
Coffee Break & Photo Session
1030 – 1200
Session 10: Innovations in Business Planning
Session Moderator: Mr. Xia Zuzhang, Energy for All Partnership Secretariat
Session 10 focuses on the role of innovation to strengthen business plans. It
considers emphasizing income generating opportunities that enhances ability-topay in rural areas and explores ways to scale-up pilot projects from a grant-based
to equity-based sustenance approach. Finally, it encourages a wide-range of
investors active in rural areas such as telecom infrastructure companies and learns
from the World Bank’s ABC business model and its Telecom Energy Initiative.
Scaling-up Rural Initiatives: Financing and Delivery Models
Mr. Debajit Palit
Associate Director, Social Transformation Division, The Energy and Resources
Institute (TERI), India
Role of Productive Use of Energy Services in Pro-Poor Business Plans
Ms. Pooja Sharma
Productive Use Officer, Energising Development (EnDev), Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Nepal
Telecom Tower Business: Current Practices for Procuring Power
Mr. Milan Raj Ranjitkar
Engineer, Nepal Telecom
ABC Model: Telecom Energy Initiative [Video Link]
Ms. Monali Ranade
Senior Environmental Specialist, Climate Change Practice, World Bank Institute,
USA
Suggested Discussion Areas:
1. Would productive-end-use [economic / income generating] enhance
integration of energy in broader development agenda - From a
productive-end-use perspective, is there a greater potential to integrate
energy policies with sectors such as tourism, telecom, rural development,
agriculture or, health?
2. How can involving mainstream infrastructure companies [such as
telecom] help to reduce the risk in rural energy initiatives?
3. What are some of the on-going rural development programs or initiatives
that promote productive use of modern energy services and / or promote
partnerships with mainstream infrastructure companies?
1200 – 1300
Lunch
1300 – 1430
Session 11: Discussion on National Outputs [Policy Support]
Session Moderator: Mr. Kohji Iwakami, ESCAP
A brief plenary introduces the objective of this session, followed by 2 break-outs
for two national teams (facilitated by resource persons) to assess the national
policy formulation process, identify relevant policies that may be reviewed from a
pro-poor public-private partnership perspective and discuss the expectations from
a pilot project to provide necessary inputs towards appropriate policy revision /
formulation. Groups then come back to a plenary to present and discuss the
outcomes].
Suggested Discussion Areas [for break-outs]:
1. What is the national policy, current practices and, institutional context for
a) rural energy sector, b) rural development and c) private sector
participation?
2. What policy provisions support social businesses [5P SPVs] such as in
the on-going pilot project for rural energy initiatives and what additional
needs to be done?
3. What is the process to influence and affect these changes? How can the
5P project help towards this?
National Team Presentation: Lao P.D.R.
Mr. Khamso Kouphokham
Deputy Director General, Department of Energy Policy and Planning, Ministry of
Energy and Mines, Lao PDR
National Team Presentation: Nepal
Mr. Surya Kumar Sapkota
Assistant Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Center, Nepal
1430 - 1500
Coffee break
1500 - 1700
Session 12: Next Steps in National Projects & Workshop Closure
Session Moderator: Mr. Hongpeng Liu, ESCAP
This last session is meant to solicit participant’s views about the workshop,
review planning of national activities and facilitate closing comments.
1700 – 1800
Reception hosted by ESCAP