Hydropower Development In Nepal: Nepal’s Natural Beauty- A Boon or A Curse

The use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines is called hydropower, also commonly known as water power. Hydropower is used as the natural water-cycle-based renewable energy, which is reliable, most mature, and cost-effective technology of power generation and also an alternative to fossil fuels. At hydropower plants, water flows through a pipe, or penstock, then pushes against and turns blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce electricity. Talking about Nepal, Nepal has endowed high potential of renewable water resources, possessing about 2.27% of the world’s fresh water resources. In total, Nepal possesses 6000 rivers including rivulets and tributaries in totaling of about 45,000 km in length and covering an area of 395,000 ha (48%). But despite of having all these potential, the hydropower development in Nepal could not reach to its extend because of country’s poor economy.

History of Hydropower In Nepal:

Pharphing (500 KW) was the first ever Hydropower plant that was commissioned in Nepal which was on May 22, 1911. This plant was constructed for supplying power to Singh Durbar and other Rana family households. It was connected to Kathmandu by 12km of 11KV line which was later extended to run Matatirtha-Dhorsing ropeway. As this project took really long, about 3 decades, Sundarijal plant (640kW) came into operation, followed by 2400kW Khopasi plant that was commissioned in 1965. Similarly, many hydropower plants and stations was constructed. Some of them includes 1600KW Letang power station, 25KW Birgunj Gas Turbine Generator, Diesel power station by king Mahendra, 2400kW Panauti hydropower, 12MW Trisuli hydropower, 100KW Phewa, 10MW Sunkoshi Hydropwer station, 14 MW Gandak power Station, 60 MW Kulekhani, 60 MW Marsyangdi Power station and so on were introduced along with aids from many countries respectively from 1935AD-1990AD.

The ‘Hydropower Development Policy, 2001’ of Nepal provides the guidelines for Hydropwer development in Nepal in line with its policy objectives. The major policy objective of government of Nepal is to develop the nation’s vast Hydropower resource potential. The government of Nepal has adopted liberal policy to attract private investment for the development of small hydropower projects where NEA has announced its policy to purchase the power produced by different private developers up to 25 MW capacities at flat or declared rate. In order to assist the capital investment for construction, domestic commercial banks are showing great interest to invest in Hydropower as priority sector investment. This has somehow helped to meet the growing demand of power in the country.

Electricity Act, 2049 has facilitated wide business opportunities to local and foreign investors alike for developing hydropower projects. Government has already granted permission to quite a few independent power producers (IPPs) like Khimti (60MW), Bhotekoshi(36MW), Chilime(20MW), Sunkoshi small (2.6MW) and so on. They produce about 25% of total installed capacity of Nepal’s power system. Similarly in 1996 first tunneling 500KW hydropower project in Tinau river of Butwal was started through Butwal Power Company (BPC) from grant of NORAD. Later NORAD also gave assistance to develop Aandhikhola multipurpose hydropower (5.1MW) and Jhimruk Hydropower project in 1995 and 2000 AD respectively.

Scope Of Hydropower In Nepal:

Picture:- Kali Gandaki A Hydro Project/Nepal Energy Forum

Despite having a potential to generate 43,000 MW of electricity and more than enough resouces, Nepal’s installed hydropower capacity is just 787 MW, which is less than half of the demand. Even at a high growth scenario of about 12% per annum, peak power demand has reached only about 1000 MW till date. Nepal Electricity Authority has total installed capacity of about 746 MW and 26 MW operating from mini and micro hydropower plants in hills and mountains of Nepal. Nepal has high potential for hydropower due to glaciers in the Himalayas, regular monsoon rain and local topography. The storage capacity of Nepal is of 202,000 million m^3. About 74% of it is from Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali. Hydropower development can ensure energy, food and health security while also protecting the environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and providing recreational opportunities.

Challenges Of Hydropower In Nepal:

Although hydropower is known as clean energy, it has many associated environmental impacts and implications including both biotic and abiotic impacts that has been as a challenge for the development progress. The main challenges in Hydropower Development Of Nepal has been identified as follows:

Climate change and vulnerability: Nepal’s hydropower plants are highly vulnerable to the projected impacts of climate change as they depend upon river basins fed by glacial meltwater and snowmelt.

Natural disaster: Many devastating disasters, earthquakes since 1934, 1980, 1988–2015 and summer flooding events of 1993, 2008, 2013, and 2014 has adverse effects for development of hydropower damaging penstock stock and powerhouse sites destruction. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) is also a major disaster that Nepal encounters.

Policy level implications: The concerned policies like Water Resources Act, 2049, Electricity Act, 2049, Water Resource Regulation, 2050, Electricity Regulation, 2050 in the hydropower sector have not described threshold criteria in terms of environmental sensitivity. This had raised issues in a licensing process and well as environmental assessment process of hydropower generation.

Financial unstability: It includes the following major problems:-

– Major Constraints in Mobilizing Funding from Financial Intermediaries.

– Lack of project finance instrument.

– Affordabiliy limits and tariff rationalization.

– Central Bank Guidelines Insensitive to Power Sector.

Prospectus Of Hydropower In Nepal:

Picture:- Kulekhani-I/Investopaper

Water is considered as prime resource for overall economic development of Nepal. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Nepal’s current peak load electricity consumption is roughly 1,500 MW. In a business-as-usual scenario, this is predicted this is predicted to rise to 2,379 MW by 2022 and 4,280 MW by 2030. The proper production of hydroelectricity upto the expected amount would aid a lot in economic development of the country. Furthermore, the excess electricity that can be exported and improve our trade loss for the country. For this the government as well as private sectors and even our individual effort matters. Government should ensure dependable, reliable and quality services within the country overcoming all the challenges.

Conclusion:

Despite the natural beauty of Nepal with its unique topography, ecological regions, geography, and enormous source of water potential, Nepal is the poorest countries in the world wherever electricity infrastructure is heavily reliant for hydroelectricity power generation. Nepal’s low economy and slow GDP growth rate in combination with environmental and socioeconomic constraints, effective implementation of existing policy and political stability may support to reach the sustainable development goals of the county. So, to sum up hydropower development should be top priorized with collective efforts from both government and non-government sectors in order to uplift the economic status of the country and also to prove the fact that ‘Nepal is the second richest country in water resources after Brazil’.

Reported by:- Ms. Niruta Neupane,

Undergraduate Student, First Year

Kathmandu University

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