2015 Training Workshop on Small Hydro Power for

South and Southeast Asian Countries

14-28 September 2015, Hangzhou, China

Sanjay Kumar Sharma

Komal Nath Atreya
Rana Bahadur Thapa
Biraj Gautam
Amod Panthee

Country Report, Nepal

25 September 2015
 Outline
• Country Introduction
• Energy Consumption Situation in Nepal
• Hydro Power in Nepal –History
• Hydropower Potential and Its Current Status
• Small Hydro Power
• In Country Experience
• Opportunities for SHP
Geographical Location

Situated in between China in the

North and India in the other 3 sides
 Physiographic Division

Terai: 14% (<

330 masl)
Mountain: 63%
Himalayas: 23%
(> 3000 masl) Avg. width: 200km
Avg. Length: 800km
Extends from 60 masl
to 8,848 masl at Tropical
North(The Mount to alpine climate
Everest)
 Himalaya

Mountain

Terai
 Social Attributes
Population 26.5 Million (2011 census),
Urban/Rural Population 17/83%
Total Number of Households 5.43 Million
GDP per capita Nepal: $ 703
CO2 emission per capita Nepal: 0.1 Tonne/year
United States: 17.6 Tonne/year
 Energy Consumption Situation
• Per capita energy consumption is 16 GJ where as electricity
consumption is 120 kWh per person

• 67% population has access to electricity including 15% from

Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs)

• Only 3% of the total energy consumed is electricity mainly from

Hydropower.

• Grid Power capacity is 806MW( 753MW-Hydro+53MW-Diesel)

(generates 503MW in winter) vs. peak demand of 1300MW
 Energy Consumption Situation contd…

• High dependency in
traditional energy source and Coal Electricity Renewable
2.8% 2.3% 0.7%
petroleum products Petroleum
9.7%
Animal dung
5.6%
• 64% HHs use firewood for
Agri residue
cooking 3.6%

• 10.38% HHs use dung cakes

Fuelwood
and 21.3% HHs use LPG 75.3%

• 4.32% HHs use kerosene,

biogas and electricity
Water Resources in Nepal
River Nos.: 6000
Hydropower potential: 83,000 MW
Generation: 788 MW (≈ 1%)
 Hydro Power Categorization in Nepal

Range Capacity
Pico Hydro Upto 10 kW
Micro Hydro >10kW to 100 kW
Mini Hydro >100kW to 1 MW • Most of Mini/Micro hydro Run off &
Isolated Mode
Small Hydro >1 MW to 10MW*
Medium Hydro >10 MW* to 30MW *Under Review from current 5MW upper
limit for SHP
Large Hydro > 30 MW
 History of HP in Nepal
• Nepal has very long experience of utilization of
water resources
• Water Power is being utilized for grinding grains
using traditional water mill since ancient times
• The historical development of Pharping Hydro
(500 kW) in 1911 AD
• Design and development of Water turbine
activities started at around 1960s.
• The first micro hydropower developed as
Godawari MHP (5kW) in 1962(AD).
 SHP Potential Vs Its Current Status
SHP Potential (up to 10 MW)
• 1530 MW
Current Status
PMMHP(Pico Micro and Mini Hydro Plants)
Installed Nos. > 2500
Installed Capacity: 42 MW
Under Construction: 105 Nos. (4.5 MW)
SHP
Installed Nos.: 35
Installed Capacity: 156 MW
Under Construction: 223MW (45no)
Distribution of Hydro Power Stations and
Transmission Lines in Nepal
Micro Hydro Power(MHP) Plants in Rural Nepal
2X4.25 MW, IPP developed Naugadgadh SHP in Far Western Region of Nepal
 In country Technical Experience

• 22MW indigenously designed HEP in

operation for more than a decade
• Local Civil Contractors are able to construct
projects in the SHP range including tunneling
• Design and fabrication of 92kW Francis
turbine
 Technical Experience contd…
• Manufacture of upto 5MVA, 33kV Class Power
Transformer
• Fabrication and erection of Spiral Casing, Draft
Tube for 2*35MW Plant on behalf of VOITH
• Fabrication and erection of 18mx12m radial
gates
• Fabrication of Penstock Pipes, Expansion
Joints Gates, Trash Racks etc for large hydro
power plants
 Repair and Maintenance

NDT and Static Balancing

20MW Cracked Pelton Bucket of

Bosachu HEP, Bhutan Heat Treatment of repaired runners
Repair and Maintenance

Repair of Francis Runner

R&D Work and Turbine Testing Laboratory
• 30m natural head.
• 150 m Closed Head and 0.5 m3/s
flow
• 300 m3 Lower Reservoir
• 100 m3 Upper Reservoir
• Two centrifugal pumps each 250
kW with VFD (Variable Frequency
Drive) for each pump.
• Prototype test up to 300 kW and
model test for larger turbines.
R&D Work and Turbine Testing Laboratory

Computational analysis of Bifurcation FSI analysis of Francis runner

CFD analysis Torque estimation

Computational analysis of Pelton turbine Computational analysis of RPT
 Opportunities for SHP in Nepal

• 12-14 hours of load shedding during winter

months
• More than 1100MW of untapped Small Hydro
Potential
• Open to 100% foreign direct investment
• Enhanced investment climate foreseen in near
future with recent promulgation of constitution
Thank You