Catastrophic floods in Nepal have severely damaged 12 hydropower plants in the Trishuli River basin, knocking out more than 10% of the country’s electricity generation capacity and raising questions about its heavy reliance on hydropower. The August 26 disaster has killed more than 1,300 people across Nepal and Tibet, while thousands remain missing.
Nepal generates almost all of its electricity from hydropower and has built an export business supplying India and Bangladesh. The country has roughly 225 hydropower plants with more than 3,900 MW of installed capacity, while hundreds of additional projects are under construction or planned.
Floods Hit Hydropower Projects Across the Trishuli Basin
The damaged facilities include Upper Trishuli-1, Upper Trishuli-3A, Upper Trishuli-3B and several other projects along the river system. Rescue teams have focused heavily on hydropower sites, where hundreds of workers were reported missing or trapped inside tunnels following the floods.
Nepal Electricity Authority spokesperson Rajan Dhakal said the country currently has enough electricity to meet domestic demand despite the lost capacity. He also said increasingly frequent climate-related disasters mean Nepal needs to reconsider how and where it develops hydropower projects.
Preliminary investigations have linked the disaster to a glacier and rock collapse high in the Himalayas, although researchers say more work is needed to determine the precise causes and the role of climate change. The Himalayan region is warming faster than the global average, increasing concern about unstable glaciers, glacial lakes and landslides.
Officials Consider More Diverse and Resilient Power Sources
Many of Nepal’s hydropower plants are run-of-river projects built in mountainous areas where steep terrain provides fast-flowing water. Experts say future projects may require stronger flood protections, improved early-warning systems and greater consideration of reservoir-based hydropower located away from the most exposed valleys.
Energy specialists have also called for more solar and wind generation to reduce Nepal’s dependence on a single power source. Research cited by German development agencies suggests Nepal’s technical solar potential could considerably exceed its hydropower potential, although hydropower remains the country’s strongest renewable-energy advantage for regional electricity exports.
The floods have also increased financial pressure on the sector. Private hydropower operators say insurers have paid about $40 million for flood damage to more than 20 plants over the past three years, while insurance premiums are rising as climate risks become more difficult to price.
Some of Nepal’s largest hydropower projects are backed by international lenders, including the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and China’s Export-Import Bank. The destruction has renewed debate over whether existing climate-risk assessments, engineering standards and emergency systems adequately reflect the growing hazards facing infrastructure in the Himalayas.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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