Green hydropower project in Bhutan honored

The Green Power Development Project in Bhutan is the first certified cross-border clean development mechanism project in the world and was recently honored by the US Treasury.  Pic: ADB

The ADB’s Green Power Development Project in Bhutan is one of the five international development projects honored by the U.S Treasury

The Dagachhu hydropwer development project , a 126 mega watt (MW), which is a run-of-river type is among the recipents of the US Treasury Department’s Development Impact honors.

The project is an Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) green energy project that brings greater electricifaction to rural households in Bhutan and boosts access to green power in neighboring India.

The project was awarded the honors at the second annual Development Impact Honors ceremony, held in Washington, US, last week.

“As this project in Bhutan has shown, sharing of hydropower resources is a win-win solution, which is anchored on mutual trust and shared interest,” said Xiaoyu Zhao, ADB’s Vice President of Operations.

The US Treasury recognized a total of five development projects and initiatives undertaken by multilateral development banks.

These include the Asian Development Bank’s Bhutan Green Power Project, African Development Bank’s Cote D’Ivoire Project; the Uganda Community Agricultural Infrastructure program by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the African Development Bank; the Inter-American Development Bank’s Mexico Training and Employment program; and the World Bank Group’s Post-Earthquake Assessment Project for Haiti.

The projects were judged in a number of categories, including their effectivenss, focus and quality of the work and success in overcoming development obstacles. Many of the projects are geared toward empowering vulnerable groups like women and children.

“The projects we are honoring are new high impact approaches to internationl development, and they reinforce our values-whether it is developing clean energy sources, advancing women’s economic equality, promoting food security or helping the most vulnerable populations,” said Jacob J. Lew, the U.S Treasury Secretary.

The green power development project in Bhutan is the first certified cross-border clean develoment mechanism project in the world.

The project in Bhutan has two components which include regional clean power trade and renewable energy access for the poor.

Under the first component, the Dagachhu hydropower development aims to export power from Bhutan to India through the existing grid to India.

The rural electrification componend will provide access to electricity sourced from hydropower to 8,767 households and facilities with grid extensions and electircity sourced from solar energy to 119 remote public facilities on an off grid basis.

The Dagachhu hydropower development is promoted by a joint venture company between Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) in Bhutan and Tata Power Company in India throug a public private partnership (PPP).

The Green Power Development Project in Bhutan is the first certified cross-border clean development mechanism project in the world. It is constructed to deliver carbon free clean energy to India, replacing electricity produced by fossil fuel generators.