As a cliché goes, these days I am bringing the world to Bhutan, and Bhutan to the world. I am doing within my personal capacity, and drumming up among my network of friends and acquaintances that I have accumulated over the decades of my professional career.

It is not without challenges though. Systemic complexities and contradictions appear like before – to the point one is even gaslighted to rethink one’s motive. It is not as smooth as Instagram shows you. But then what is easy these days? As someone said, we have become champions in complicating even the simplest of things. And so, I guess I will keep going as long as I can.

Fact remains that as our country embarks on the most ambitious idea of the mindfulness city(which is ambitious even by global standards) and of high-income country and GNH 2.0 and so on, we do what we can within our means and with a sense of selfless service – for the greater vision to materialise and for the collective dream to be fulfilled.

It is not something that is achievable by one person or an organisation. I believe that the cumulative outcome of all our tiny individual efforts will make the difference between success and failure. And, by the way, in this Project, unless someone has some hidden tricks inside their large gho pocket, there is no room for failure – and no such thing as Plan B. We need to succeed as a nation. And it will be hard work and sacrifices for some time.

The 20,000 MW Dream.

Currently in the energy sector, our country faces a power deficit in winter months. This is a paradox because for years we have been told of a bright future. The deficit may even get worse because of the drying up of our rivers. From the month of October till the month of May, the water from our rivers that drive the turbines can barely push 25 percent of the installed capacity of our power plants. This amounts to around 400 megawatts (MW).

On the other hand, the demand for power peaks in winter to around 1000 MW, resulting in a shortfall of around 600MW. This deficit is covered through importing electricity from India during the winter month – and that too at a higher tariff from the Indian energy market.

To address this, from what I learnt, the government has opened the power sector to private investments from both local and international companies. It has set an ambitious target to harness 20,000 MW within 2040. A couple of large companies from India have signed MoU with the government, but it is still a long way from achieving the target. The push for energy is not just in hydropower but also in solar and wind technology. And for foreign investments in solar, there is the option of 100% equity ownership.

From End to Means.

Another shift from previous thinking on energy we produce is to see it as an enabler for other sectors, and not just as a cash cow. In other words, there is a push to use the excess power we produce to drive other sectors such as mining and manufacturing – instead of just exporting it for state revenue. In other words to see power as a ‘means’ and not just as an ‘end’. This is a much-needed policy shift, because the earlier model produced economic growth without generating employment.

As this perspective takes root, we may see more opportunities for power-incentive plants and products if this policy remains stable over a long-run.

Hopefully this time we will get it right and the Sun of Happiness will really shine on us 😻