This site uses cookies, as explained in our terms of use. If you consent, please close this message and continue to use this site.
2 mins Read
Countries in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region have been endowed with immense hydropower generation potential, but the changing climate and consequent changes in the hydrological regime pose grave questions regarding the future of sustainable hydropower development. The dearth of hydrological data, among other things, is a major impediment to harnessing the full potential of available resources in the region. Nepal, for instance, has a total hydropower potential of about 83 GW, of which about 43 GW is deemed technically and economically feasible. But without adequate hydrological data to support national strategies, its total installed capacity is around 1.1 GW, according to Economic Survey 2018–2019, released by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal.
The survey also states that upon the completion of several ongoing hydropower projects, this capacity will be doubled by 2021. This is an uphill task, given the inadequate long-term data available on river flow during lean and wet seasons, precipitations patterns, and snow and glacier melt at the source. And with the hydrological variables changing rapidly owing to climate change, policy makers have the challenging task of accurately gauging the sustainability of Nepal’s hydropower plants.
Experts in the field have already identified the lack of data and standardized data collection guidelines as major problems in the current hydropower development industry. In a bid to address these data gaps, a group of hydropower experts including developers, government agencies, and researchers met on 5 June 2019 for a consultation workshop organized by ICIMOD and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) under the second phase of the Snow Accumulation and Melt Process (SnowAMP) project. The group agreed that a coordinated effort is required to make hydrological data available to stakeholders and suggested the following interventions:
Share
Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.
RELATED CONTENTS
The Hindu Kush Himalaya Monitoring and Assessment Program’s (HIMAP) Coordinating Lead Authors' Writeshop was organised by the International Centre for ...
The local community in Saptari, a district in the Terai region of Nepal, is elated with news that their local ...
ICIMOD met partners from China, Pakistan and Tajikistan in Kathmandu, Nepal on 28-29 April 2016 to discuss and finalize the ...
A joint meeting of delegations from the EU and ICIMOD expressed satisfaction on the progress made by the EU-funded programme ...
In Nepal, many community forests are involved in the production of charcoal from forest materials generated from the annual cutting ...
At an elevation of 5250 metres above sea level, a bamboo stake, about an arm’s length, stuck out oddly against ...
On Thursday in New Delhi, India’s Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and […]
The G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development, (GBPNIHESD), the Indian nodal organisation with support from ...