Implementation

5.1 Community Based Projects
Community based projects will be implemented through community organizations and functional groups developed through a process of community mobilization. REDP's community mobilization process is based on the conviction that to mobilize a community to undertake development initiatives, their capacity must be built based on six basic principles. These "six principles" are organization development, skill enhancement, capital formation, technology promotion, woman's' empowerment and environment management. All activities of the community organizations and functional groups will be based on transparency and consensus. Skills will be enhanced in the areas of management, energy technologies, agriculture, environment, income generation and enterprise development. Capital will be mobilized at all levels to provide a strong financial base for development. Appropriate technology will be introduced and disseminated to promote sustainable rural energy systems. Women will be considered an equal and important partner in all community development activities. Environment management will be emphasized so that together with the introduction of renewable energy technologies environmental interventions will contribute towards reverse the unsustainable energy use patterns in the rural areas. For more details please refer to REDP's Community Mobilization Guidelines.

Micro Hydro Demonstration Scheme (MHDS) : MHDS is an REDP supported micro hydro scheme that is implemented by a micro hydro functional group formed according to the REDP community mobiliation process. The MHDS focuses on the multipurpose use of water resources, multifarious end-use applications of hydro-electricity, intimate linkage between micro hydro development and natural resources preservation and management, integration of micro hydro with other rural energy technologies such as solar PV and biogas. It also emphasizes capacity building of the community members to plan, implement, operate and manage the scheme. These schemes will not be "gift-oriented projects" but "partnership" endeavors for which resources are mobilized from the DDCs, VDCs, COs and other agencies. Project implementation will be undertaken by community organizations and functional groups with support from non-government and private sector organizations such as the manufacturing and others.

The DDC: REDS will endeavor to facilitate the whole implementation process. For this to happen, priority will be given to the mobilization of the communities of the targeted area into self-governing community organizations. Formation of community organizations and functional groups to manage the implementation of the energy projects will be a prerequisite and criteria to judge the interest of the VDCs or particular communities.

Working with the communities will also be on a two-pronged approach: (1) organization building of the communities to undertake development initiatives and (2) supporting COs and FGs to develop their rural energy development package and its implementation.

5.2 Entrepreneur Based Projects
An alternative implementation method is through potential, private entrepreneurs. The DDC: REDS will provide technical services and assist the entrepreneurs to gain access to the credit schemes of commercial banks, including the Agricultural Development Bank. The services that the DDC: REDS can provide to entrepreneurs are:

1. Human Resources Development: DDC: REDS will develop technical and managerial capabilities of the entrepreneur to implement, operate, manage, and maintain energy systems. It will do this through study-tours, workshops, seminars, orientation and different types of training programs.
2. Technical Support: DDC: REDS will provide consulting services on technological, procedural and economical aspects of rural energy systems development.
3. Facilitate Linkages: DDC: REDS will facilitate linkage between the entrepreneur and related agencies for technical, financial and procedural support.

5.3 Resource Mobilization
The resources for implementing an energy project will have to be done by the community, through an Energy Functional Group, or the entrepreneur. For this, REDP will assist the mobilization of the resources. There are mainly six sources for mobilization of resources. They are briefly described below.

1. Community Contributions: The resources mobilization process should begin by assessing what the community themselves or the entrepreneur him/her self can contribute for the project. The more the contribution from the beneficiaries, the less will be any loan burden and more will be the ownership and commitment to the project. The most common forms of contribution will be unskilled labor and local materials like sand stone and wooden poles. However, communities can also contribute cash.
   
   
2. Local Governments (DDC and VDC): Another important source of funds is the local governments. REDP's experience has proved that the DDC and VDC can provide from 10 to 20% of the cost of small-scale energy schemes. REDP has initiated a novel concept for mobilizing funds from DDCs and VDCs for community-based micro hydro projects. The DDC and VDC contribute fund on the understanding that once the projects starts making profit, the community will pay back dividends equal in percentage to the DDC or VDCs contribution to the total cost of the scheme.
   
   
3. His Majesty's Government (HMGN) : Resources can be mobilized from HMGN in the form of subsidies that it provides for different technologies. At present HMGN provides subsidy for micro hydro, solar and biogas projects. The details of the subsidies are given in Annex B.
   
   
4. Bank Loans: Some national banks provide loans for energy projects. The bank that has invested the most in energy projects is the Agricultural Development Bank. It provides loans for micro hydro, solar and biogas schemes. However, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Nepal Bank Limited also provide loan for biogas plants.
   
   
5. Donor Agencies: There are quite a few donor agencies interested in assisting community-based energy projects. REDP will assist communities to link up with these agencies for funding needed to make the project financially viable. However, all donor agencies want to assist projects in which the communities have shown tangibly that they are committed to the sustainability of the project they are undertaking. So these sources of funding should be explored only after preparing the necessary proposals reflecting the commitments.

5.4 Feasibility Studies
The objective of the Feasibility cum Design Study is to determine the feasibility of selected energy scheme, ascertain the output capacity, prepare necessary designs and make detailed cost estimate. Since all subsequent stages of implementation of the schemes notably fund mobilization and construction will be based on the results of this study, it is important that this study be carried out with care.
Some of the main steps in carrying out the feasibility study will be:

A. Site Visit:

1. Visit potential sites and identify suitable locations and alignments for the various structures.
2. Measure parameters like water flow, head, temperature, solar radiation, wind velocity etc. This may have to be done over a period to be able to estimate variations and minimum values.
3. Identify potential load center/s and collect information required for forecasting present and future demand. This may include the number of households, distance from plant, existing and potential industries, potential for possible end-uses, etc.
4. Identify the best alignment for distribution network, if needed and determine its length and size.
5. Identify environmental considerations and issues related to plant construction and operation.

B. Report:
A detailed report will be prepared for each site surveyed. The report will contain information in the proposed plant size based on the measured parameters and demand, the design for the various components of the plant, environmental considerations, cost estimates and work plan for execution of the scheme. The report should be prepared in such details that the community of entrepreneur can construct the structures and manufacturers can fabricate equipment based on the report. The report will contain the following topics.

1. Summary: Brief presentation of major conclusions reached in the report.
   
   
2. Objective of the Study: Presentation of the objective of the report as may be given in a terms of reference.
   
   
3. Methodology: Presentation of the methodology adopted for field survey, design and report preparation.
   
   
4. Limitations: Presentation of the major limitations, if any, of the report.
   
   
5. Description of the scheme: Presentation of the general description of the scheme which should include the location and general layout of the scheme, possibilities of end uses, beneficiary area etc.
   
   
6. Energy demand: Presentation of a profile of energy demand. This may also include an estimate of demand trends over the next few years.
   
   
7. Resource Demand: Presentation of the requirements for the resource for other purposes e.g. water for irrigation and drinking water that may compete with the scheme, animal dung for manure, etc.
   
   
8. Design: This section will be sub-divided into civil, mechanical and electrical components, if any. For each section the design philosophy and parameters will be presented. Complete specifications for each component will be also be included. The technical drawing for the detailed calculations will be presented as an Annex.
   
   
9. Matching of Supply and Demand: Analysis will be made on whether the supply meets the demand or not. If it does not, the optimum method of doing so will be suggested. The plant factor and its future trends will also be presented.
   
   
10. Work Schedule: A time chart of activities (divided by months and years) starting from the planning stage through to commissioning will be provided.
    
    
11. Cost Estimate: A cost estimate for the scheme will be provided. The cost should be broken down as:
    • Mechanical components (materials cost only)
    • Electrical components (materials cost only)
    • Civil components (non-local materials cost only)
    • Local labor (including pottering) and local materials
    • Skilled manpower costs for installation and construction
    • Transportation costs
    • Miscellaneous costs
    
    Contingencies should be included in each cost item. The detailed costing should be included as an Annex.
    
    
12. Revenue: The possible ways in which the scheme will generate revenues over the next ten years will be presented.
    
    
13. Financial Analysis: The projected financial analysis of the scheme will be presented
    
    
14. Annexes: Detailed information will be included as Annexes.

5.5 Construction
The implementation of an energy scheme can be broadly divided into three stages:

1. Preparation: During the preparation phase important activities will be carried out. The first is the preparation of a work plan. The work will be prepared taking into account the equipment manufacturers fabrication schedule, the seasonal farming work load of the community members, the seasons specially monsoon and any other factor that is identified as being crucial to plan beforehand. The second is the procurement and ordering of non-local materials as well as collecting local materials.
2. Construction and Installation: This phase will be the most intense phase. It will require maximum technical support from outside. The electro-mechanical installation, if contracted out on a turnkey basis will require very little supervision besides a critical appraisal of the specification and perforation of the electro-mechanical system when taking over responsibility from the supplier. However, the civil construction will require the close supervision of at least an overseer level staff with experience in micro hydro. During this phase close attention should also be given to land stabilization and bioengineering in the case of canal construction and ensuring that all equipment are environmentally friendly with regard to noise, chemical waste, and ecology.
3. Commissioning: As the last phase of the implementation of an energy scheme, commissioning of the scheme is very important because this is when the supplier solves all teething problems and gets the scheme in full operation. The community or entrepreneur must ensure that the operators selected for the schemes are fully involved during the installation and commissioning stages so that they are fully aware of all possible problems that may come up later.

5.6 Operation and Maintenance
The sustainability of an energy project will depend on how effective its operation and maintenance is. Effective operation and maintenance will result in reduced down time and repair cost of the plant. This, in turn will allow for a lower tariff rate which the community members can pay and thus ensure timely collection of tariff which will be sufficient to pay the expenses required to run the plant effectively and make provisions for future maintenance and expansion. In general, during the operation phase, there will be four broad areas of activity.

1. Establishing Procedures: It is very important that realistic, effective and easy-to-understand procedures be established that will enable the personnel to carry out their jobs efficiently. The important activities needing clear cut procedures are operation, maintenance, space parts management and account keeping.
   
   
2. Establishing Linkages for Technical Support: The plant personnel cannot solve all technical problems. Therefore when they are faced with difficult technical problems they must have some institutions they can fall back on. Thus it is important that linkages be established between the community/entrepreneur and institutions that can provide training, that can give technical consultancy inputs and that can provide maintenance services. The supplier of electro mechanical components is the best organization to link with.
   
   
3. Consumer Service: Providing efficient service to the consumers will be another important job of the plant personnel. This includes fixing a realistic tariff structure, collecting tariff, maintaining the consumers installations and efficiently administrating consumer hook-ups, capacity change, disconnections, late payments etc.
   
   
4. End Use and Enterprise Development: However efficiently an energy generating plant is run, if it is being undertaking on a commercial basis, the energy must be used to the maximum. This usually means that just domestic use will not be enough to attain a high load factor. Therefore, end-uses of the energy and enterprises based on the energy produced needs to be promoted. This is one of the most crucial aspects of a sustainable energy project, especially micro hydro plants.
   
   
5. Rural Energy Service Center (RESC): The RESC is a private sector workshop, which is supported by REDP for human resources development and infrastructure development, that provides broad based technological support to entrepreneur or community owned rural energy systems.