Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) Platform

Organisers: Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) and ICIMOD

About the event

The global agriculture sector is undergoing a transformative phase with a shift towards sustainable and eco-friendly practices, particularly in response to climate change and dwindling conventional energy sources. In Nepal, agriculture is pivotal to the economy and livelihoods and yet the use of energy for agriculture is low. Currently, 60% of cultivable land in Nepal does not have access to irrigation, let alone irrigation based on renewable energy. The current lack of adoption represents a missed opportunity for climate adaptation measures in the sector, hindering its efficiency and resilience.

The Government of Nepal, in collaboration with various development partners, has been promoting renewable energy (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 various administrative levels remain a significant barrier to their effective planning, implementation, and long-term sustainability.

To address the data gap on irrigation, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), Nepal, 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.

The platform was validated through multiple consultations with key government agencies, including the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI), Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DWRI), and AEPC. Additionally, at a larger stakeholder workshop, participants representing 15 agencies further refined and formed a consensus on the platform’s methodology and results.

In 2024, AEPC officially launched the PURE platform and featured it on its official website. And have demonstrated the use to identify 48 potential sites, screening over 439 sites and implementing three projects, marking a transition to data-driven planning.
In this regard, ICIMOD is organising capacity-building training for the AEPC team by providing hands-on training on the use and functionalities of the PURE platform. This training aims to familiarise participants with the platform’s tools and features to support data-driven planning and decision-making in the renewable energy and agriculture sectors.

Objectives

• Present the features of the PURE platform and its functions
• Train the participants on the use of the PURE platform
• Seek comments/feedback on the PURE platform

Expected output

• Skill development of the users to use the platform

About the Platform

Most regions of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, including Nepal, face year-round irrigation challenges due to rugged terrain and settlements located on hilltops, far from valley water sources. RE-powered water pumps offer a sustainable irrigation solution and an alternative to diesel pumps, particularly for dispersed farms, to boost agricultural yields and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods in a changing climate. However, critical market information to scale the solution, such as demand, location, and required investment, remains scarce.

PURE is a transformative decision-support platform that optimises renewable energy planning for river-based lift irrigation systems. By leveraging satellite imagery and advanced modelling, PURE integrates diverse datasets and enables user-guided analysis, allowing stakeholders to:

• Select customisable data layers, including administrative boundaries, physiographic zones, transmission and distribution lines, crop and irrigation requirements, river networks, canals, etc.
• Generate integrated visualisations of renewable energy demand for river-based lift irrigation systems, cost predictions and enabling infrastructure, such as utility connections, market centres, etc.
• Analyse results at national, provincial, and municipal levels through interactive graphics and tables.

Designed for governments, developers, and researchers, PURE transforms complex geospatial and multi-data sets into simple actionable insights, identifying and quantifying RE-powered lift irrigation opportunities to strengthen climate resilience in agriculture and enhance food security.

AGENDA