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Does Institutional Failure Undermine the Physical Design Performance of Solar Water Pumping Systems in Rural Nepal?

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  • Ram P. Dhital

    (Institute of Engineering and Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), Lalitpur Sub Metropolitan City 14364, Nepal)

  • Yutaka Ito

    (International Resource Sciences, Akita University, Akita 010-8502, Japan)

  • Shinji Kaneko

    (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

  • Satoru Komatsu

    (School of Global Humanities and Social Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasak 852-8521, Japan)

  • Ryota Mihara

    (Sojitsu Corporation, Tokyo 100-8691, Japan)

  • Yuichiro Yoshida

    (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

Abstract

The mountainous hinterland in rural Nepal lacks a fundamental social infrastructure. For example, the lack of electricity causes water provision difficulties, especially in mountainous areas where villagers, especially women and children, often spend a considerable amount of time just conveying water to their homes. To overcome this challenge, a subsidy policy for the installation of a solar-photovoltaic water pumping system (SWPS) has recently been implemented nationwide in Nepal. The Nepali government’s tight financial constraints require that the installation process is both economically and technologically sound. However, the institutional design of the current subsidization policy is price-distortionary and potentially induces the installation of inefficient systems. By collecting original field data from 38 wards in all seven regions of Nepal, this paper measures the SWPS’s technical efficiencies and then identifies relevant economic policies that will enhance the performance of the SWPS. Our results show, inter alia, that a higher dependency on financial support from the government is associated with excessive investment in the SWPS.

Suggested Citation

  • Ram P. Dhital & Yutaka Ito & Shinji Kaneko & Satoru Komatsu & Ryota Mihara & Yuichiro Yoshida, 2016. "Does Institutional Failure Undermine the Physical Design Performance of Solar Water Pumping Systems in Rural Nepal?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-11, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:8:p:770-:d:75605
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    Cited by:

    1. Bhattarai, Utsav & Maraseni, Tek & Apan, Armando & Devkota, Laxmi Prasad, 2023. "Rationalizing donations and subsidies: Energy ecosystem development for sustainable renewable energy transition in Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Satoru Komatsu & Yuki Yamamoto & Yutaka Ito & Shinji Kaneko & Ram Prasad Dhital, 2020. "Water for life: ceaseless routine efforts for collecting drinking water in remote mountainous villages of Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7909-7925, December.
    3. Utsav Bhattarai & Tek Maraseni & Laxmi P. Devkota & Armando Apan, 2024. "Evaluating four decades of energy policy evolution for sustainable development of a South Asian country—Nepal: A comprehensive review," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 6703-6731, December.

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