This case study documents the Rural Energy Development Programme (REDP) in Nepal, which achieved widespread expansion of energy services and helped to formulate the national Rural Energy Policy. Three hundred and seven micro-hydro plants, 3,099 solar home systems, 6,811 toilet-attached biogas plants, and 14,255 improved cookstoves were installed, and 550,000 people living in remote areas obtained electricity under REDP. Through its focus on productive uses of electricity, income generation and enterprise development, REDP helped poor communities to remedy two pervasive problems that kept them impoverished: their low productivity and their limited range of productive options.

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