Hydro Energy Concern (P.) Ltd. (HEC) is an organization dedicated to the sustainable development of hydropower energy. HEC provides the hydropower sector with integrated support on development of hydropower and assumes responsibilities of consulting, planning, designing, equipment delivery and installation, operations and maintenance.  Presently Hydro Energy Concern is actively developing numerous Micro, Mini and Small projects in the field of hydropower in Nepal.

It all began in 1990…..

The founder of Hydro Energy Concern (Mr. Bir Bahadur Ghale), also an Ashoka Fellow (title given to those who have excelled in Social Entrepreneurship) envisaged energy as a major developmental tool. Providing clean, alternative fuel for his village in Barpak, Gorkha would not only help the environment, but also help a great deal in reducing the drudgery faced by the people of his village. Keeping in mind the need of the hour he tackled the problem with a practical approach. Thus, a plan to build a Micro Hydro Power (MHP) plant in Barpak was germinated.   The plant operated successfully generating 130 kW of electricity at an altitude of 1900 meters (Barpak). After his first project in Barpak he began promoting awareness and social benefits of hydropower energy. The burgeoning population and the ill planned cities of Nepal would soon be crowded with people. Keeping this in mind Mr. Ghale saw centralization in the city a huge problem. In order to bring back people to the villages from the city and create job opportunities, revenue generation opportunities in the villages, he started promoting awareness of hydropower energy and business enterprising opportunities in the villages. His contribution thus far has electrified more than 4000 household.

Later, he went on to establish Hydro Energy Concern Pvt. Ltd. (HEC) in 1995 with an aim to add towards the private sector capacity in micro, mini and small hydropower projects. He also founded Nepal Micro Hydropower Entrepreneurship Federation, to support power management, connecting hundreds of plant managers to trainings and idea exchanges, and uniting them to advocate for rural development in national policy. HEC believes that the economic and social development and the low environmental impact related to MHP represent the three inseparable pillars of sustainable development of Nepal, confirming that MHP can serve as an energy source for sustainable development.

HEC classifies the two main projects in its category, grid connected and off-grid projects. HEC has realized that on grid connected power generation projects through renewable sources from isolated regions, it can only be ensured with the commitment of the community. Hence, all HEC projects are developed around the community assisting the sustainable development of that region. HEC is focused on strategy development where the community is also one of the stakeholders in the project. HEC has also developed different schemes where the community can contribute to the project ranging from direct financial contribution to labor contribution. For off-grid projects HEC works closely with the government’s Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) to provide electricity to rural Nepal. The entire system ranging from generation, transmission and distribution of power is owned and operated by the community ensuring the long term sustainability of the project.