A review on the regional collaboration of power utilisation in South Asia

Economic prosperity and development in South Asia are significantly restricted by the insufficient power supply. Inadequate indigenous energy resource of each South Asian nation is not enough to generate power for meeting the growing demand. Moreover, the availability of limited indigenous energy resources differs from one country to another in South Asia. In addition to availability variation of indigenous energy sources, the climate conditions also vary resulting in variable power demand and power generation capacity. This paper reviews the current power generation capacity of all eight nations of South Asia. It highlights the bilateral and multilateral collaboration opportunities in power generation and the need for cross boarder power trade among South Asian nations. The review emphasises that the bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation will allow overcoming regional power shortage and augmenting collective energy security, economic and political integration. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd