SAREP has a two-pronged approach to enhance the institutional capacity of energy sector entities:
Regional capacity building of SAREP stakeholders using existing platforms:
SAREP will deliver capacity building through in-person and virtual workshops, seminars, working group roundtables, online certification courses provided through reputable academic institutions, regional and international peer exchanges, and analyses and studies developed jointly with stakeholders.
We will build on past capacity building and technical assistance activities and collaborate with such ongoing and planned activities under other USAID programs such as South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) and its Task Forces, South Asia Regional Energy Hub (SAREH), PACE-D, and bilateral programs (i.e., Bangladesh Advancing Development And Growth Through Energy or BADGE, Urja Nepal, and Sri Lanka Energy Program) to design and deliver focused training and workshops.
State-level (India-focused) capacity building
SAREP will engage state energy departments, state utilities, state regulators, and state-level load dispatch centers (SLDCs). Building their capacity will improve market readiness of state entities and contribute to regional trade and integration, as well as integration of renewable energy. Many states have higher than average aggregate technical and commercial losses, weaker regulatory and policy capacity, and dispatch procedures that require modernization to align with the national mandates and standards. We will help participating institutions track their progress against the baseline through annual reviews.
The following are the various kinds of capacity-building exercises SAREP seeks to undertake in India and the rest of the region:
- Building government’s (i.e., state utilities, PPP units within government departments/ministries) capacity to streamline procurement processes, reduce information arbitrage, and improve transparency to bolster private sector investors’ confidence
- SAREP will include a gender action plan, including incorporating women into strategy and business planning. We will follow a gender-balanced approach to training across institutions to promote women’s leadership
- Building capacity of regional and national institutions to enable and build confidence in cross border power trade
- To advance public and private investment and improve an enabling environment, SAREP will engage with investors, private sector developers and vendors to develop their capacity to understand policies, codes, and standards.
- Identify gaps, particularly for appliances and equipment where standards need to be developed, and build capacity in development, adoption, and compliance with standards
- Build capacity of power system planners to manage the increased proportion of variable renewable energy connected to the grid. SAREP will build their capacity to ensure that policy and regulatory environments offer certainty and revenue streams to encourage investment in new variable RE generation
- Targeted technical assistance and capacity development to partner countries in South Asia to accelerate deployment of renewable energy