Workshop on Current energy trend, future prospects and possible scenarios in the context of Nepal and South Asia

                                                                                 Kathmandu, Nepal

                                                                                 28 November, 2019

Background of FranSed project

The global development of hydropower is an important step towards a low-carbon society. Despite its global
potential, it is challenged by both social and ecological considerations. Consequently, developers and investors
are forced to promote sustainable approaches for future hydropower development. The FranSed project
specifically addresses these issues aiming to accumulate new knowledge required to guarantee sustainable and efficient global hydropower development. In regions with large hydropower potential such as South-East
Europe, Asia, Africa and South America different sediment transport processes, e.g. sedimentation, are core
challenges that need to be addressed and amended to ensure sustainable hydropower development.
Sedimentation processes have proven to be technically, economically and socio-ecologically challenging (e.g.
reduction of reservoir lifetime or impacts on downstream ecosystems). Additionally, climate change is projected
to cause increased sediment catchment yield, affecting the operation and maintenance of the hydropower
plants and hence energy production. In order to address these challenges, it is essential to develop cost effective methods for sediment handling. Implementation of such findings will reduce downstream social and
ecological impacts in a sustainable way. For hydropower operators, the design of hydraulic structures, flushing
techniques and reliable sediment measurements are key knowledge domains for future development. As such,
the FranSed project focuses on the development of a Francis turbine that is able to resist large amounts of
sediments.
Work package of 1 of the FranSed project includes conducting research on the prospects and challenges of the
future energy market in Himalayan region. Studies and modeling of different demand and supply scenarios will
be done in consideration of Nepal as a case. The target is to understand how the demand in the grid changes
and fluctuates after more power plants are installed and more electricity is consumed. This workshop is aimed
for sharing the ideas developed so far in this work package and collecting suggestions from the participants.

                                    AGENDA