Community Rural Electrification Programme (CREP) Nepal

This is part of a condensed report on the Community Rural Electrification Programme (CREP) in Nepal. For an overview on the whole report please refer to following page: SHPP Report.

The idea of community based Rural Electrification (RE) was first developed in the USA in the 1930s. In Asia, Bangladesh was the first country to establish rural electrification whereby small entities manage electricity distribution on community levels. By now, RE programs have been established and are successfully managed in several Asian countries, such as India, Viet Nam, the Philippines and Nepal.
In Nepal the government together with the national utility – Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) initiated a first pilot area for grid extension, where the community contributed 20% of the total investment cost for the extension. Recognized as a successful vehicle for rural electrification, the Community Rural Electrification Programme (CREP) was officially launched in 2003/04 to increase the grid-connected electrification rate in areas without access to electricity.
NEA, a 100% state-owned commercial entity whose field of operation includes generation, transmission and distribution, is obliged to electrify Nepal. Since grid-extension to remote areas is commercially not viable, a by-law was passed in 2003/04 by the board of directors of NEA, stipulating the modalities for the CREP.