Solar irrigation system design and use of the PURE platform

Organizers: Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) , ICIMOD, Ageing Nepal

About the event

To strengthen the institutional and technical capacity of engineers from provincial and local governments, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), is organising a series of training programmes. These trainings will focus on the technical design of community-based pumped irrigation systems using solar energy, conduct detailed feasibility studies, and introduce the Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) platform.

The programme aims to equip engineers with the knowledge and skills required to plan, design, and implement solar-powered irrigation systems that are technically sound, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable. In addition to technical training, participants will be introduced to tools and approaches that integrate renewable energy (RE) solutions into agriculture to enhance productivity, improve water access, and support rural livelihoods. The trainings will also create a platform for engineers from different provinces and promote standardised approaches for scaling renewable energy in agriculture across mountain regions in Nepal.

Objectives

Through a combination of theoretical sessions with practical exercises, the training aims to equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for planning, designing, and implementing sustainable solar irrigation projects that enhance agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods.

The specific objectives of the training are to:

• Promote the use of the PURE platform as a decision-support tool for planning and analysing RE-powered lift irrigation systems
• Harmonise the approach to detailed feasibility studies of the RE-powered lift irrigation systems through the detailed feasibility study (DFS) framework
• Enhance the technical capacity of provincial stakeholders through hands-on training in the design and implementation of solar-powered water pumping systems

Background

Agricultural productivity is heavily constrained by limited access to reliable irrigation, especially in hilly and mountainous regions. Around 60% of the land in Nepal does not have access to year-round irrigation, and 87% of the land in the hills does not have access to irrigation. To address this challenge, renewable energy-powered lift irrigation systems have emerged as a sustainable solution to enhance water availability for farming communities.

The Government of Nepal, in collaboration with various development partners, has been promoting RE-powered lift irrigation systems to improve agricultural resilience, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and support climate-smart agriculture. While the adoption of such systems has shown promising results, data gaps and capacity gaps at the provincial government level remain significant barriers to their effective planning, implementation, and long-term sustainability.

To address the data gap on irrigation, ICIMOD, in collaboration with the AEPC, has developed the PURE platform – an innovative digital platform specifically designed to advance RE-powered river lift irrigation planning in Nepal, especially in the mountain regions. As a decision-support tool, the platform consolidates data from multiple sources, including satellite imagery and field data, using advanced modelling to generate user-friendly insights that help identify market opportunities and support data-driven planning for RE-powered river lift irrigation systems.

In addition, AEPC, in collaboration with ICIMOD, has developed a detailed feasibility study framework for RE-powered lift irrigation systems in Nepal. This framework is intended to serve as a guide for conducting in-depth feasibility studies on RE-powered irrigation systems in Nepal, with the overarching goal of ensuring consistency and reliability in the assessment process. Similarly, ICIMOD has developed a comprehensive training-of-trainer manual and a technical handbook on solar water pumps. This manual provides valuable insights to engineers and technicians to carry out the design of irrigation systems. For the widespread integration of renewable energy within the agriculture sector, it’s crucial that these tools, serving as catalysts, are disseminated at national, provincial and local levels.