Raj Brewery, Manufacturer of Budweiser beer in Nepal and Simple Energy celebrated the inauguration of the Raj Brewery Solar Rooftop Project in Nawalparasi, Nepal.

The project is the country’s largest-ever grid-connected rooftop solar project, as well as the first in Nepal’s brewery industry.

The Budweiser manufacturer will use the generated energy to power its factory operations with the provision of any excess energy will be distributed through the national grid.

The 500 kW rooftop solar system is designed, installed and operated by Simple Energy, a joint venture between the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company InfraCo Asia and Saral Urja Nepal (SUN).

The rooftop solar system will generate about 844 MWh of clean energy annually.

Nepal has approximately 2,700MW of installed power generation capacity, 96% of which comes from hydropower. In addition to contributing to the diversification of the country’s energy mix, the Raj Brewery solar rooftop installation will help reduce diesel consumption during power cuts and lessen the effect of dry season power outages.

It will also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, supporting Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.

Speaking on the occasion, Raj Brewery’s Managing Director Raj Bahadur Shah said, “We strive to reduce our carbon footprint as a responsible corporate citizen. Energising our power requirements by installing solar rooftops for our brewery is our effort towards a cleaner world.”

Simple Energy CEO Apar Neupane said, “Nepal’s appetite for renewable energy, and rooftop solar in particular, is growing.

As a company at the forefront of renewable energy in Nepal, we are showing that clean power and profit can go hand in hand.

As we grow, we will continue to lead the way through our business and our practices, in particular prioritising the hiring of women and training them to install rooftop solar systems to contribute to the national economy and for the protection of the environment.”

Jawalakhel Group of Industries’ Group Executive Director, Sashin Joshi said, “We are happy to have adopted solar energy as a solution for our brewery. As the most state-of-the-art brewery in South Asia, we are committed to being more environmentally friendly and reducing our dependence on non-sustainable sources of energy. We are also planning to power our other group companies with solar power to improve our renewable energy mix for a more sustainable future.