On the eve of COP28, the total capacity of rooftop solar photovoltaic projects approved for support through the Sustainable Energy Challenge Fund (SECF) has crossed the 5 MW mark. The 14 approved projects include 3 hospitals, 3 food industries, 2 beverage industries and a hotel, pharmaceutical, automobile workshop, steel mill, shoe factory and a tea factory each. In these 14 projects, the SECF support of about NPR 55,381,494 (£ 0.329 million) has leveraged NPR 325,593,514 (£ 1.935 million) of private investment almost 6 fold totaling over. 10 of these projects are under the Renewable Energy Service Company or RESCO model where solar companies invest in the system and sell electricity to the industry. In the remaining 4 projects, the industries have invested their own funds in the system.

SECF is a challenge fund mechanism promoted by the Government of Nepal through the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) with technical assistance from the Nepal Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) and financial support from the British Embassy in Kathmandu.