Nepal Energy Wiki
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Layer: Storage Shortlist

Page status
Working page
Updated
2026-05-12

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Summary

This explorer layer highlights storage and storage-like hydropower projects selected for dry-season energy relevance, separating seasonal value from ordinary nameplate-capacity map reading.

Explorer label: Storage reservoirs
Layer group: Hydropower layers
Feature count: 11

Storage and storage-like projects highlighted for dry-season energy value, not just installed MW.

What It Represents

This layer isolates projects that matter for seasonal balancing. Nepal's core hydro problem is not annual water volume alone; it is the mismatch between wet-season abundance and dry-season scarcity. Storage and storage-like projects are treated differently from ordinary run-of-river MW because they can affect dry-season firmness.

The shortlist combines three evidence types:

Category Meaning Projects In Layer
Operating storage Existing seasonal-storage asset already serving the system Kulekhani I-III
Under-construction storage Near-term storage addition in the official project stack Tanahu
Advanced / promising planned storage Projects with dry-energy or storage figures strong enough to matter for the winter deficit argument Dudhkoshi Storage, Nalsyau Gad, Lower Badigad, Naumure, Sun Koshi No.3, Madi, Andhi Khola, Kokhajor-1, Lower Jhimruk

The point of the layer is to separate firm or seasonal value from nameplate capacity. A project with moderate MW can matter more than a larger wet-season-heavy project if it contributes dependable dry-season energy.

Included Projects

Project Basin MW Dry Energy Dry Share Priority Read
Kulekhani I-III Bagmati 106 n/a n/a Only operating seasonal-storage cascade in Nepal; crucial for dry-month balancing and peaking.
Tanahu Gandaki 140 n/a n/a Most practical near-term new storage addition in the checked official set.
Dudhkoshi Storage Koshi 670 1,252.0 GWh 37.1% Largest quantified dry-season block in the checked official Nepal-side sources.
Nalsyau Gad Karnali 410 581.8 GWh 41.4% Best dry-energy output in the JICA promising-project set.
Lower Badigad Gandaki 380.3 354.7 GWh 26.0% Large Gandaki carryover storage plus strong dry output.
Naumure (W. Rapti) West Rapti 245 309.9 GWh 26.8% Very large effective storage for a medium-basin project.
Sun Koshi No.3 Koshi 536 335.9 GWh 17.8% Large east-central reservoir block with meaningful dry support.
Madi West Rapti 199.8 170.7 GWh 27.5% Moderate MW but useful dry-energy ratio in a water-deficit medium basin.
Andhi Khola Gandaki 180 137.1 GWh 21.1% Smaller but still meaningful dry-energy contributor.
Kokhajor-1 Koshi 111.5 94.1 GWh 33.7% High dry-energy share for a relatively small plant.
Lower Jhimruk West Rapti 142.5 94.4 GWh 20.8% Useful medium-basin storage candidate, though layout conflicts with Naumure in the current design.

How To Read It

Use it with basin seasonality, cross-border trade, transmission, and priority-watchlist layers. The main question is not "how many MW?" but "how much controllable dry-season support does this project add, and where does that support land in the grid?"

The key fields are:

Field How To Use It
category Distinguishes operating, under-construction, advanced planned, and JICA promising-storage records.
Installed capacity (installed_mw) Nameplate capacity; useful but secondary to seasonal output.
Annual energy (annual_energy_gwh) Total expected generation where available.
Dry-season energy (dry_energy_gwh) The most important value field for the storage argument.
Dry-season share (dry_share_pct) Dry-season output as a share of annual energy; useful for comparing differently sized projects.
total_storage_mcm / effective_storage_mcm Reservoir scale where the source provides it.
Why it matters (priority_read) Plain-language reason the project was included.
source_note Shows whether the record comes from NEA annual reporting, NEA-linked project notes, or the JICA/NEA storage master plan.

The layer works best as a filter over Nepal's broader hydro portfolio. It keeps the storage question visible while the user inspects large projects, transmission corridors, and seasonal trade behavior.

Coverage / Method

The layer is built from the storage shortlist annotations and the related dry-energy comparison table. It includes operating storage, under-construction storage, and advanced or promising planned storage records where the cited project context provides enough storage or dry-energy information to support inclusion.

Caveats

Storage labels do not settle design, resettlement, environmental, financing, treaty, or procurement questions. Some projects are storage-like or proposed rather than confirmed deliverable storage assets.

Several records are planning candidates from the JICA/NEA storage master-plan material rather than committed projects. Dry-energy values are analytical anchors, not delivery forecasts. Location precision also varies: some markers use project or operating-plant points, while others use river anchors because the public source is stronger on project concept than on map geometry.

The shortlist has 11 map features, while Storage Capacity Comparison also discusses Chera-1 in the broader 12-project table. Chera-1 is retained in the tabular research workspace but is not currently exposed as a map marker in this layer.

Linked Data

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