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२०८२ साउन ३, शनिवार
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जलविद्युत सोलार वायु बायोग्यास पेट्रोलियम अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय जलवायु ऊर्जा दक्षता उहिलेकाे खबर हरित हाइड्रोजन ईभी सम्पादकीय बैंक पर्यटन भिडियो छापा खोज प्रोफाइल ऊर्जा विशेष ऊर्जा

Nepal's hydropower sector has been facing increasing challenges due to natural disasters triggered by the climate change. The findings of recently conducted disasterbased studies also give inferences about the incidents. The floods and landslides that followed the heavy rains on September 26-28 caused major damage to 39 hydropower projects with a total capacity of about 1,600 MW. These include both operating and under construction projects. The affected production volume makes up almost half of the country’s total installed capacity of 3,500 MW. The country's largest 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower plant, which was damaged by the floods and landslides, resumed its partial operation only after 3 months.

The incidents however are not new in the sector, if not expected to that extent. Floods and landslides have been inflicting huge losses on the hydropower sector almost every year. The floods and landslides that occurred in June 2023 devastated 31 hydropower projects located in eastern Nepal. Moreover, projects like the 14.9 MW Hewakhola 'A' are found suffered mostly by floods and landslides. An instance of the 3 MW Bhairav Kund project, which was shut permanently with sustaining seven incidents of natural disasters in seven years between 2014 and 2021) after just one and a half months of its operation, produces a gloomy situation.

Such major disasters are the indications for alarming impacts of climate change. Due to human activities that help increase greenhouse gas emissions, global temperature is continuously rising. This has invited many changes in the climate as well as the overall weather system. As a result, events such as torrential rains, severe floods, landslides, inundations, prolonged droughts, abnormal snowmelt, snowfall, and reduced river flow are increasing. On the other hand, the possibility of dry landslides in winter is also increasing. There has been an increase in such incidents mainly after the 2015 earthquake. All these have proven to be an irony for hydropower sector of the Himalayan country.

Private hydropower developers have been demanding the government to declare such incidents as 'unforeseen circumstances' and have sought necessary privileges citing the situation. These include reducing customs duty to one percent, VAT exemption and refinancing facility on import of spare parts and equipment targeted for the maintenance of disaster-hit projects. However, the concerned government authority like the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) seems unwary to verify project design to align with impacts of natural disaster. It is not appropriate also on the ground that the government releases the benefit scheme without assessing the actual damages caused by the natural disasters. Nevertheless, the private sector alleges the government for being apathetic to the situation. In fact, the point of approach of project promoters after such disasters should be insurance company not the government if they have taken appropriate insurance scheme considering such disasters.

Due to climate change, there has been a dramatic fall in water flow in rivers and streams in recent years. Hydropower promoters claim that the production of many projects has been limited to less than onefourth of their actual capacities. This has led to a significant decline in revenue generation by hydropower plants. Moreover, the government has been making hydropower producers to announce their productions in advance under ‘availability declaration’, while the developers are subjected to pay up to 100 percent in hydrology penalty if their prediction goes wrong. This has added to the suffering of the producers. On the other hand, the projects are not able to produce as per the agreement since the very first year of their commercial operation. Similarly, promoters face allegations that their hydrology study, unknowingly or intentionally, has proved to be incredible as many of them do not meet their deemed energy  even in the first year of their commercial operation.

Pushing the projects in haste to save time and costs has led to flaws in hydrology and design by private developers. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) argues that climate change alone isn’t to blame-developer negligence is also a factor. If energy output declines only after the initial years of operation, climate change may be the cause. NEA allows amendments to deemed energy in the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). However, the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) has recently removed hydrology penalties for projects under 10 MW.

Although the small hydropower projects have been given the cushion, the ERC maintains the cent percent hydrology penalty for projects exceeding 10 MW. NEA's role in this regard is not compatible with the law, while it also goes against the government’s set plan for the overall  from expert consultants on possible bursting and damages triggered by glacial lakes in the upper watershed area development of energy sector. In the recently endorsed 'Energy Development Roadmap, 2024' that talks about producing 28,500 MW of electricity by 2035, the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has stated to remove the provision of hydrology penalty. Private sector has also been raising their concern over the issue. It is an irony that private developers have been treated as the sole responsible factor behind climate change that they bear full charge for the huge losses from water-related disasters. Nevertheless, the Private sector should also be aware not to compromise with the quality of surveys, designs and construction of structures in the race of constructing projects at low cost and on time. NEA has been putting stress to ascertain over such issues arguing that why NEA projects are not affected by flood disasters in the same river basin where number of private projects suffer disasters if climate change was to be blamed.

What is even more contradictory is that the ERC has been approving the decision of the NEA to impose a 'hydrology penalty' in contrary to its own regulations. It is yet to see ‘To what extent will the penalty provision mentioned roadmap will be implemented.’ While making the private sector responsible for their quality design, it is essential to maintain and study mandatory 100-year flood data and water flow to avoid any possible accidents while developing projects. T here is a need to revisit the 100-year flood design standard considering the impacts of climate change.

With rising temperatures in the Himalayan region, the number of glacial lakes is increasing. Experts on time and again have warned that these lakes are at high risk to burst at any time. Last August, a glacial lake burst in Solukhumbu destroyed many physical structures in Thame Bazaar. Meanwhile, the main causeof the floods in Sikkim last year was also bursting of a glacial lake. Now, it has become imperative for the promoters of every river-based project to conduct sufficient study from expert consultants on possible bursting and damages triggered by glacial lakes in the upper watershed area

Sufficient study should also be done on the liquefaction tendency of the hilly terrain on the upper belt of the project construction site. On August 1, 2014, the Jure landslide of Sindhupalchok collapsed and swept away the village. Water flow in the Sunkoshi River was completely blocked. This caused huge damage to human and hydropower infrastructure in the region.

In this disaster, the 2.5 MW Sunkoshi Small Hydropower Station was submerged for days, while the 10 MW Sunkoshi downstream was shut due to water shortage. The landslide also damaged the transmission line and several private's hydro projects.

Adequate time and investment are essential for studying the geology, geography, liquefaction risks, and hydrology of construction sites. Developing projects with a short-term mindset, knowing they transfer to the government in 30 years, is detrimental. Such cases have already occurred. However, the private sector alone is not to blame for neglecting sustainable hydropower development.

Private developers must not only seek government privileges but also safeguard their projects from disasters by focusing on sustainable infrastructure. They should reflect on past work, address weaknesses, and embrace self-regulation.

Meanwhile, the government cannot simply shift blame to the private sector. Weak monitoring, inspection, and impulsive decisionmaking have made regulatory bodies and administrators equally responsible for disaster-related damages.

Minimizing climate change impacts requires all stakeholders to fulfill their roles responsibly. Only then can sustainable hydropower development be ensured. To achieve its 28,500 MW hydropower target, the government must enforce accountability and modernization.

This editorial has been excerpted from the semi-annual Urja Khabar magazine published in Poush 2081.

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