South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI)

For over a decade the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been consistently striving for the promotion of energy security in the South Asian nations. The USAID launched the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy (SARI/E) program in 2000 covering eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The first three phases of the program focused on areas of cross-border energy trade (CBET), energy market formation, and regional clean energy development. Phase four, which was completed in September 2018, furthered the advancement of regional energy integration and increasing cross-border electricity trade (CBET).

Due to EUPP’s SARI/EI workshops and training, opportunities for CBET in the region have increased, particularly now that energy security has become a political priority for all the country governments. Stakeholders are mobilizing for regional and sub-regional projects in the areas of power generation, transmission and power trade.

Program Background

USAID's SARI/EI (South Asia Regional Initiative in Energy Integration) program, implemented by Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), a leading South Asian Think Tank, and us at the United States Energy Association (USEA), a U.S. based non-profit organization, are hosting a regional conference “Looking Back to Move Forward: 22 years of regional energy cooperation and integration” on September 15 and 16 at the Lalit Hotel, Regal Hall (1st floor) in New Delhi. USAID's SARI/EI (South Asia Regional Initiative in Energy Integration) program, implemented by Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), a leading South Asian Think Tank, and us at the United States Energy Association (USEA), a U.S. based non-profit organization, are hosting a regional conference “Looking Back to Move Forward: 22 years of regional energy cooperation and integration” on September 15 and 16 at the Lalit Hotel, Regal Hall (1st floor) in New Delhi. This program is under our broader scope of the Energy Utility Partnership Program (EUPP)

We are celebrating the curtain call for the longest-running USAID initiative SARI/ei which has run since 2000, of which the last phase or phase 4 from 2012 to now saw a lot of achievements including doubling cross-border power trade in the region.

Honorable Minister Shri R.K. Singh, Ministry of Power, Government of India has been invited to inaugurate the conference. Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State, External Affairs, Government of India will be speaking on the first day. Further, the second day of the conference also has Her Excellency Doma Tshering - Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations.

The regional conference will bring together South Asian stakeholders and international experts to celebrate the many successes, share lessons learned, and deliberate on important themes such as the role of cross-border power trade in the clean energy transition, regional power markets in South Asia, power of data, and some emerging technologies and issues in the energy sector.

EVENT DETAILS

In 2000, USAID launched the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy (SARI/E) program, focusing on expanding cross-border electricity trade, energy market transformation, clean energy development, and regional grid integration. For the past 22 years, this program has worked towards an energy-secure South Asia through eight countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

As the fourth phase of the program, called the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) draws to a close, we invite you for a curtain call as we look back and celebrate the program’s impact over two decades. The conference will showcase how regional energy cooperation has evolved in South Asia and what steps are next to harness energy security. South Asian and other international experts will review the role of power trade and the impact of data and markets in the region’s clean energy transition. The two immersive conference days will have us looking ahead to global hot topics and what’s next for South Asia’s path to regional energy cooperation.

Registration and program details here.

The Energy Utility Partnership Program (EUPP) is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) and implemented by the U.S. Energy Association (USEA). EUPP works around the world to promote energy security, clean energy access, and capacity building to achieve self-reliance. The contents of this webpage are the sole responsibility of USEA and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.