Workshop on Regional Energy Cooperation

TERI, along with the World Bank, organized a workshop on 'Opportunities and Challenges to Increase Regional Energy Cooperation in South Asia' on 17 April at TERI University. The objective was to discuss various barriers and opportunities to increase regional electricity cooperation and energy trade in South Asia as well as identify potential steps towards greater integration of power systems in South Asia. This was part of a larger project being carried out by the World Bank Development Research Group. Over 28 professionals including the MEA, CERC, CEA, AusAID, IRADe ADB, EDF, POSOCO, SARI/EI, PTC, IEX, Observer Research Foundation, the World Bank, and TERI participated.

Mr K Ramanathan from TERI welcomed the participants and spoke briefly on the relevance of the topic in the emerging power scenario. Mr Mike Toman from the World Bank outlined the scope, objectives, and design of their on-going project. This was followed by four presentations: Mr Govinda Timilsina (World Bank) presented a comparative picture of power systems in South Asia; Mr Ioannis Kessides (World Bank) spoke on the status of regional electricity integration around the world and its implication for South Asia and highlighted the need for exploring complementarities between countries; Mr Shahid Hasan (TERI) spoke about the key challenges in developing integrated electricity market in South Asia; and Mr S Padmanaban (SARI/EI) gave an overview of the various initiatives and experiences on regional initiatives undertaken by them. Each presentation was followed by a detailed discussion, which was moderated by Mr K Ramanathan. Mr Ashish Khanna from the World Bank summed up the session and gave his suggestions on the future course of action.

Dr Rajiv Seth from TERI University proposed a vote of thanks and also briefed the participants on the activities of the university.