Nepal's hydropower ambitions face climate reality check

Nepal’s hydropower boom has long been touted as a cornerstone of economic growth and renewable energy, but the devastating flood in August exposed its vulnerability.

The disaster triggered by a glacial mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands missing — while knocking 410 megawatts (MW), or about 10 per cent of the generation capacity, out of Nepal’s power system.

More than 90pc of Nepal’s electricity comes from hydropower, but extensive damage to its river projects has prompted questions about its energy security as climate and geological risks intensify.

“Hydropower has been a major driving force in growth of the country… generating jobs and income,” Uttam Bhlon Lama, senior vice president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association (IPPAN), told AFP.

“It was bringing huge hope and future prospects to the people,” he said, adding that the country would now have to rethink its dam-building spree.

“We have to prepare… This is our new normal.”

The disaster has “taught us serious lessons for the future”, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told parliament on Wednesday.

“We must not only take stock of the damage but also learn from it and develop systems to reduce future risks,” he said.

The World Bank warned that Nepal needs to build a hydropower system capable of anticipating, absorbing and recovering from increasingly complex Himalayan hazards.

Scientists say the August disaster was caused by a complex chain of geological and climatic factors rather than a single extreme weather event.

According to the World Weather Attribution group, the massive rock-and-ice collapse was shaped by long-term warming, glacier retreat and geological instability.

‘Existential threat’

Much of Nepal’s hydropower infrastructure lies along steep river valleys fed by glaciers — terrain exposed to floods, landslides and cascading geological hazards.

“Powerhouses need to be moved higher up from the riverbeds to protect them against floods, we need better evacuation plans and stocked safehouses,” IPPAN’s Lama said.

“I call it the fate of the Himalayan people,” he told AFP.

“It can happen anywhere in the world but the Himalayas are experiencing adverse impacts due to climate change and anthropogenic activity,” he said.

“We have to design climate-resilient infrastructures. That is our top priority because we are (facing) existential threat.”

Header image: An aerial view taken from inside a commercial aircraft shows Trishuli river in Nepal’s Dhading district on September 1, 2026 in the aftermath of flash floods. —AFP/File