15th March 2021,

Over the past few years, South Asia has had a period of sustained economic growth, with an average of ~ 6 %. Rapid industrialisation, modernisation, and urbanisation has accelerated energy demand across all the countries of the South Asian region. There is an urgent need, and a tremendous opportunity for enhancing per capita consumption of energy, particularly of electricity, in the region.

At the same time, the region remains highly vulnerable to the adverse impact of climate change, and decarbonising the power/energy sector will get even more crucial. While each of the South Asian countries has taken measures to reduce emission from the power/energy sector, building sustainable energy infrastructure continues to be a challenge. In this context, Cross Border Electricity/Energy Trade (CBET) presents an immense opportunity by facilitating rapid decarbonising through the development of large-scale Cleaner, Greener and Sustainable Energy Infrastructure (CGSEI) across the region. There are huge opportunities for regional optimization of diverse energy resources in a sustainable manner through the development of interconnected and integrated power systems by advancing CBET in the region. The South Asian countries have recognized the importance of Sustainable Energy Infrastructure and the potential benefits of Regional Energy Cooperation and CBET. Within the region, CBET is already taking place among the BBIN (Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal) sub-region. The CBET has more than doubled since the year 2012 and currently around ~3700 MW is being traded. A greater number of cross border power projects
and transmission interconnections are being planned and proposed particularly in the BBIN sub-region, which will enable greater integration of power systems.

USAID’s SARI/EI program and South Asia Forum of Infrastructure Regulation (SAFIR) have a long-standing collaboration to enable the region realise its vision of attaining energy security. As another step in this endeavour, the Annual SAFIR-SARI/EI Conference (Virtual) is scheduled on 15th and 16th March 2021. This year’s conference will focus on the theme – “Sustainable Energy Infrastructure Development and Role of Cross Border Energy Trade in South Asia: Challenges, Opportunities and way forward”. The two-day conference will comprise an inaugural session and three focused working sessions in the form panel discussions. This Conference is a by-invite event. To participate, please write to [email protected].