Publication
Presentation on Role of WECAN in Promotion of Mini/Small Hydropower Projects in Federal Context of Nepal
Water and Energy Consultant Association Nepal(WECAN) conducted its 10th Annual General Meeting(AGM) on 18th May 2019 at Kathmandu, Nepal. In the AGM Mr. Sanjeev Pokhrel delivered a presentation on " Role of WECAN in Promotion of Miini/Small Hydropower in Federal Context of Nepal".Mr Pokhrel is a energy expert with more than a decade long experience. After the presentation session the new executive board member were selected. Fairwell program was conducted for the former board members where as welcome program was done for the new executive board members. In the program various participants from political party, government sector, private sector, consulting sections, development partners, NGO, INGO were present.
Opportunities and Challenges in Micro/Mini Hydropower Project Implementation in Federal Context
In the 9th Annual General Meeting and Life time achievement award ceremony of Water and Energy Consultant Association Nepal(WECAN) some experts from the energy sector presented their views and opinions in "Opportunities and Challenges in Micro/Mini Hydropower Project Implementation in Federal Context". The presentation was given by renewable expert/Consultant-Asian Development Bank(ADB)/Executive Member WECAN Mr. Sanjeev Pokhrel. Various participants from government sector, private sector, consulting, developing partners, NGO, INGO were present in the program. The program was held in Kathmandu at 4th May 2018.
A Comprehensive Study on Hydropower Potential of Nepal
In the 9th Annual General Meeting and Life time achievement award ceremony of Water and Energy Consultant Association Nepal(WECAN) some experts from the energy sector presented their views and opinions in "A Comprehensive Study on Hydropower Potential of Nepal". The presentation was given by Engineer/General Secretary WECAN Mr.Khimananda Kandel. Various participants from government sector, private sector, consulting, developing partners, NGO, INGO were present in the program. The program was held in Kathmandu at 4th May 2018.
SUDIGGAA
STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FOR ACCESS TO GRID ELECTRICITY FOR ALL IN FIVE YEARS WITH PARTICIPATION FROM LOCAL-LEVEL GOVERNMENT
POWER FOR NEPAL
POWER FOR NEPAL
Odd Hoftun & the History of Hydropower Development
By Peter Svalheim, translated by Katherine M. Parent
Publisher: Martin Chautari, 2015, Price: NRs 700/-, ISBN: 9789937594127, Pages: 289
The book Power for Nepal describes the pioneering work led by a Norwegian missionary
engineer in the creation of hydro power industry in Nepal over a period of five decades,
beginning in the 60s. It‟s an incredible story of a man raised in Christian faith who felt a
compelling desire to serve those less fortunate than him in an unknown land by helping them
help themselves.
As a young man Odd found it appealing to his understanding of himself with a character in
Henrik Ibsen‟s play who felt he had “God‟s seal on his forehead”. Odd felt that „some great task
lay before him‟. This had to with „practical decision-making‟, „diesel on his fingers and the roar of
motor in his ears‟, „technical challenges‟, „days and nights of painstaking work to nurse ideas
and visions to life, planning them down to the smallest detail‟.
No wonder, Odd Hoftun, aged 31 left his comfortable career as electrical engineer in Norway in
1958 and with his wife Tullis came to Nepal to help build Tansen mission hospital. Odd at the
same time fell in love with the country. After the hospital construction was completed in 1963,
Odd continued to work in Nepal for another five decades. During the period, Odd established
over a dozen institutions and companies which led to the creation of hydropower industry in
Nepal; all from scratch and against all odds. Human capacity building was the central goal in his
every undertaking of hydropower projects large and small during the decades.
The author argues that the, „combination of place, culture and time constituted the background
for Odd‟s extraordinary life‟. Odd was born to an engineer father in 1927 in between two world
wars in a Norwegian rural municipality of Al in Hallingdal where his home was „literally a
hydropower plant‟. Odd, a hydropower kid helped his engineer father in the operation of power
plant. His father Erik was a manager of local utility supervising operation and maintenance of
power plant, transmission line, and distribution network and in expansion of large and small
projects, handling retail sales and customer service.
Erik had a strong sense of duty and his home was a center of village progress, and the first
place for ideas and plans. For Odd his father was his idol. Odd‟s mother was kind hearted and
she sent Odd out with packages of food for people who were suffering due to deep poverty
prevalent in many Norwegian rural mountain community in those days. Odd inherited a strong
Christian upbringing through his long family linage which had close links with Christian revival
leader, entrepreneur and author Hans Nielsen Hauge who greatly influenced Norwegian
Christian and community life in the early 19th century. Odd grew up at the crossroads of church
and industry.
When Odd lost his father when he was only 18, Odd thought to become like his father, a
conscientious and skilled man who carried out best his job in hand. Odd went to study electrical
engineering at Norwegian University of Science and Technical (NTNU). He was a natural
leader, thinker, and intellectually gifted debater and carried his work with great intensity. Even
as an engineering student Odd had the desire to serve in Christian mission work overseas. After
few years of practical work experience in a power company in Norway, Odd and his wife Tullis,
in spite of their having some health issues came to Nepal to serve United Mission to Nepal
(UMN) to build Tansen mission hospital. Little did they know then that this would be the land of
their lifetime work.
In over four decades to come, Odd conceptualized, founded and developed over a dozen
institutions and companies that put Nepal in the world map (among the developing countries) in
hydropower industry capability among others. These institutions and companies and projects
nurtured Nepali talent and are owned and managed by Nepalese. This means over time Nepal
has developed the capability to design and construct hydropower projects and manufacture
some of the electro-mechanical and hydro mechanical components to world standard.
The institutions and companies and some of the projects accomplished by these companies run
a long list: Butwal Technical Institute (1964), Butwal Engineering Works P. Ltd. (1964 ), Tinau
Hydropower Plant (1966-78), Butwal Power Company Ltd. (1965), Butwal Wood Industries P.
Ltd. (1978), Butwal Plywood Factory Pvt. Ltd. (1973), Development and Consulting Services
(1972), Gobar Gas Company (1978), Andhikhola Hydropower and Rural Electrification Project
(1982-1990), Himal Hydro General Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. (1978), Nepal Hydro and
Electric Company Pvt. Ltd. (1985), Jhimruk Hydropower Plant (1992-1995), BPC Hydroconsult
(1986), Hydro Lab, Himal Power Limited (1992).
Odd struggled against all odds in the construction of Tansen hospital: lack of skilled workers,
lack of construction materials and lack of funding. The later however he felt triggers the
imagination which helps to bring local resources and inventiveness. Odd‟s philosophy was if one
could complete a task with a minimum of outside funding using local resources and workers,
that would set an example to be followed in a country like Nepal.
While Tansen hospital construction work was underway, Odd and Tullis were making life plans
starting with setting up a technical school in Tansen. UMN approved this proposal and sent to
ministry of Education for approval. The request was turned down as the government did not
want another mission school. When the next proposal to the government went with the objective
of establishing Institute of Technology and Industrial Development (ITID), the proposal was
approved in March 1963, with a condition that it should be in the plains not in the mountain.
Butwal therefore was chosen and ITID became known as Butwal Technical Institute.
The book narrates the phenomenal success of BTI in imparting skills and attitudes to the
trainees under master technicians from the west and how BTI gave birth to number of
institutions, companies and projects each supporting the business of others. These initiatives
helped spin off a number of private workshops owned and operated by BTI graduates.
Everything Odd conceived and realized in founding of these over dozen institutions, companies
and projects were a pioneer works in Nepal. As in any pioneering work Odd faces untold
obstacles from all corners: colleagues who had different development philosophy, trainees who
misunderstood the principles being inculcated and many technical challenges in building first
hydropower plant in a tunnel in mountain in Nepal, lack of funds and expertise such as tunneling
in Himalayan mountain. Odd and Tullis also had the challenges of raising a family in an
unknown land without the comforts so easily accessible in their home country. There were more
challenges in the making when their second child born in Tansen who had some birth
complication later developed a serious type of disability that required assistance even to turn a
page of book and not to mention other daily chores. It is unconceivable for an ordinary mortal
how could one continue envisioning, planning, implementation and realizing one pioneering
works after another for over four decades against so many odds. It appears that Odd thrived in
such challenges possibly with inspiration and guidance he found from his strong Christian faith.
The central motivation for Odd in his life time work in Nepal was a kind of “society construction”
to build up proficiencies and attitudes, which led to the creation of a vibrant hydropower industry
in Nepal. The book is a wonderful testimony of an extraordinary life of Odd Hoftun, the father of
hydropower industry in Nepal.
Reviewed by Bhola Shrestha
