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The Hildum Small Hydropower Project has supplied electricity to 2,300 households in Kharpunath Rural Municipality, including Simkot, the district headquarters of Humla. However, power supply is cut off during snowfall and the monsoon season. Frequent turbine breakdowns and damage to canals also force residents of Humla to live in darkness.

“There is electricity only in name. Even a mild wind or rainfall disrupts the supply,” said Pitambar Rokaya of Simkot-7. “Without electricity, phone and internet services are affected, and sometimes we are cut off from communication for up to a week.”

According to Pemba Lama of Simkot, when there is no power, local traders charge up to Rs 100 per hour to charge mobile phones using generators.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank’s Report on Demographic, Social, Economic and Financial Situation of Nepal– 2024/25, although Karnali Province has a potential electricity generation capacity of 18,000 megawatts, only about 10 megawatts is currently being produced. Due to the lack of power generation within the province itself, residents have long been forced to endure irregular load-shedding and low voltage.

The report states that in Karnali, only Padamkhola in Dailekh produces 4.8 megawatts and Dwarikhola produces 3.75 megawatts, while all other projects are micro and small hydropower schemes.

Purna Bahadur Nepali, Assistant Director at Nepal Rastra Bank in Karnali Province, said that according to feasibility studies conducted on the Karnali, Tila, and Bheri rivers, nearly 18,000 megawatts of electricity could be generated. He noted that Dailekh is currently producing 8.55 megawatts of electricity, while all other districts have projects generating less than one megawatt. At present, Humla produces 0.50 megawatts, Mugu and Kalikot 0.40 megawatts each, Jumla 0.20 megawatts, and Rukum West 0.35 megawatts.

According to data from the Nepal Electricity Authority’s provincial office, 19 projects with a combined capacity of 4,541 megawatts are undergoing survey, four projects with a total capacity of 26 megawatts have received production licenses, and seven projects with a combined capacity of 1,091 megawatts have applied for survey permits. Shashi Bhushan Shah, the provincial head of the authority, said that since most large hydropower projects planned in Karnali have stalled, the province has been forced to rely on electricity generated elsewhere.

He added that out of 309,376 households in Karnali, only 135,000 have access to electricity through the national grid. Around 30,000 households rely on micro-hydropower projects, while the remaining approximately 144,000 households depend on alternative energy sources such as solar power, traditional oil lamps.

In Dolpa, construction of the 106-megawatt Jagdulla semi-reservoir hydropower project, to be built by Jagdulla Hydropower Limited, has not yet begun even six months after the contract agreement was signed.

An agreement was signed last July–August between Jagdulla Hydropower Company Limited, China’s Jiangxi Construction Engineering (Group) Corporation Limited, and ANK Construction Nepal (JV) to build the project. According to CEO Sanjay Sapkota, the contract was awarded for Rs 13.73 billion, with a deadline of mid-July 2029.

He said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have already been approved, and around 260 ropani of land has been acquired. However, the project has been delayed due to pending approval of its design.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 23 billion. Financial arrangements have already been secured, with Nabil Bank committing Rs 4.40 billion, Employees Provident Fund Rs 4 billion, Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) Rs 4 billion, Laxmi Sunrise Bank Rs 2 billion, and Everest Bank Rs 1.5 billion in loans, CEO Sapkota added.

The Indian company GMR, which was awarded the 900-megawatt Upper Karnali Hydropower Project, has so far failed to secure investment. Meanwhile, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 410-megawatt Nalgaad reservoir-based project in Jajarkot has not yet been completed. Work on the 688-megawatt Betan Karnali project has also been progressing very slowly for a long time. Energy expert Kamal Sharma warned that diverting the Bheri River into the Babai River and channeling its water to Lumbini Province could have serious impacts on the region.

According to data from the Karnali Province Planning Commission, 67 percent of the population in Karnali still depends on traditional oil lamps (tuki) and solar energy. Only 33.39 percent (561,000 people) have direct access to electricity, while the remaining 1.3 million people rely on tuki, alternative energy sources, and diyo lamps.

“Until electricity reaches every household, infrastructure development in Karnali will remain incomplete,” said commission member Ashok Nath Yogi. “If three or four of the large hydropower projects under construction are completed, Karnali could become self-reliant by exporting electricity.”

The 417-megawatt Nalgaad Hydropower Project in Karnali has remained stalled for a long time. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project - which includes plans to build an underground powerhouse at Dalli in Nalgaad Municipality, Jajarkot, and a dam at Andherikhola in Barekot Rural Municipality - was completed two years ago. However, the project has been stuck due to a lack of investment, said project engineer Padam Thapa. He added that the project would require an estimated Rs 123 billion to complete.

“Construction of the project is not possible through domestic investment alone,” Thapa said. “Foreign investment has not been secured.” The project has already provided compensation to around 800 families, but there is a dispute over whether compensation should be deducted for 555 houses.

In 2016 (2073 BS), an Australian joint venture of SMEC, MWH, and Nepal’s Uday JV had been awarded the contract to prepare the DPR within two years and seven months. However, it took seven years to complete the DPR, said Nalgaad Municipality Mayor Dambar Bahadur Rawat. “There was a delay in the DPR as well,” he said. “Now it is uncertain when the project will actually be built.” The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project has been completed.

Another long-stalled project is the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project. It has remained in limbo for years after the Indian company GMR (Gandhi Mallikarjun Rao) failed to arrange financing. The Investment Board Nepal stated that although a directive order has been issued by the Supreme Court regarding a writ petition challenging the revised share structure approved last November–December, the full text of the verdict has not yet been released, preventing further progress in financial closure.

For the 900-megawatt project, documents had been submitted proposing a revised share structure: 34 percent for GMR, 34 percent for India’s state-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), 5 percent for the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), and 27 percent for the Nepal Electricity Authority. The 60th meeting of the Investment Board had approved this structure. Previously, GMR held a 73 percent stake and the Nepal Electricity Authority 27 percent. GMR later allocated shares to IREDA and SJVN in an effort to secure investment.

Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, Sushil Gyawali, said that a decision will be taken once the full text of the court order is received.

The future of the 439-megawatt Betan Karnali Hydropower Project, being developed under the leadership of the Employees Provident Fund, also remains uncertain. According to the company’s Managing Director, Krishna Prasad Acharya, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the project is in its final stage. He said that financial closure will proceed after the PPA is signed, and discussions are ongoing with banks and financial institutions for this purpose.

Betan Karnali had applied to the Department of Electricity Development on February 22, 2022 but received its license only on 29 June/early July 2025. A meeting of the Investment Board held last November–December approved an investment of Rs 93.40 billion for the project.

Similarly, work on the 480-megawatt Phukot Karnali Hydropower Project - planned along a section of the Karnali River flowing through Pachaaljharana Rural Municipality, Raskot Municipality, Sannitriveni Rural Municipality, and Khandachakra Municipality in Kalikot - has also been delayed. The project is being developed through a joint venture between Nepal’s Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited (VUCL) and India’s state-owned NHPC Limited.

According to the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the project is planned with a 51 percent investment from NHPC and 40 percent from VUCL. However, the project has fallen into uncertainty after court cases were filed following the agreement between the two parties.

During the feasibility study, the project had excavated a 520-meter test tunnel. According to project chief Hiraman Waiba, the work had reached its final stage but was halted after a court case was filed following an agreement to grant a 51 percent stake to an Indian company. The total estimated cost of the project is nearly Rs 100 billion, and around 1,140 families are expected to be affected.

Meanwhile, the central transmission line remains unreliable, with persistent problems of low voltage and irregular load-shedding. “There is a central line only in name,” said Pahal Bahadur KC of Birendranagar-6. “There isn’t a single day when power doesn’t go out five or six times an hour.” He added that frequent outages are increasingly damaging electrical appliances.

Kamala Devkota of Khalanga, Jumla, said that despite the expansion of the central grid, its unreliability has prevented her from giving up solar power.

Kantipur