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Nepal Energy Profile

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Registry record
Updated
2026-05-21

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Summary

Energy-specific profile of Nepal for electricity-system context.

System Snapshot (FY 2024/25)

Metric Value
DoED operating registry 3,791.874 MW (Apr 10, 2026, 189 plants >1 MW)
Separate DoED sub-MW list 15.197 MW across 19 plants (last updated Jul 7, 2025; not the same cut-off date)
NEA annual report figure 3,591.262 MW total / 3,389.912 MW hydro (FY 2024/25 cut-off)
Hydro share 94.4% of the FY 2024/25 installed mix
Fleet type >90% Run-of-River Hydropower
Storage capacity 106 MW (Kulekhani Cascade)
System peak demand 2,901 MW (Jul 1, 2025)
National peak demand 2,409 MW
Monsoon surplus ~850 MW exported during peak production
Per-capita electricity use 370–465 kWh/yr
Grid electricity share of final energy 7.23% (FY 2079/80) — up from 4.96% (FY 2078/79). See Nepal Final Energy Mix
Net trade position Seasonal exporter (since 2023); FY 2024/25 net exports: 699 GWh
Export revenue NPR 17.46B (India + Bangladesh)
Approved export capacity 941 MW (400 MW bilateral + 540 MW IEX)
Transmission 5,742 circuit-km at 66 kV+; 8,867 MVA substations
System losses 12.26% total system loss (NEA FY 2024/25)
Cross-border transfer capacity ~1,141 MW approved
Grid coverage 97.6% national grid coverage (NEA FY 2024/25)
Sep 2024 flood damage 11 operational projects, 600+ MW affected

The Core Paradox

Nepal has crossed from chronic shortage into seasonal surplus. It now exports electricity in the monsoon and still imports in the dry season. The country has more electricity than it can sell and less than it needs — at the same time, every year. See Seasonal Mismatch.

Reliability Transition

The country is far better off than during the classic shortage era, but that recent success can be overstated if the timeline is forgotten:

  • Scheduled load shedding ended in 2018.
  • Before that, outages lasted up to 14 hours/day between 2007 and 2017.
  • World Bank NIETTP project documents estimate the macroeconomic cost of that era at roughly 7% of GDP per year.

That history matters because today's system should be read as a transition from shortage to fragile seasonal surplus, not as a finished reliability story.

Energy Beyond Electricity

Nepal's broader energy system is not electricity-centered. Biomass still dominates. In the FY 2079/80 WECS balance, residential use was 60.75% of final energy, grid electricity 7.23% (up from 4.96% the prior year — a real jump driven by +21.2% electricity consumption against −41.5% coal and −16.1% petroleum). Hydro's share of total final energy is about 6.8%. Nepal's electricity story is more advanced than its total energy transition. Full cross-tab at Nepal Final Energy Mix; strategic frame at Energy Substitution Pathway and Domestic-Led Hydro Strategy.

Limitations & Controversies

Data reconciliation gaps. NEA reports 3,591.262 MW total / 3,389.912 MW hydro (FY 2024/25); the DoED operating registry lists 3,791.874 MW. The discrepancy (~200 MW) reflects different cut-off dates, sub-MW plant inclusion rules, and NEA vs DoED accounting boundaries. System-scale claims are source-dependent unless the source boundary is stated explicitly.

Supreme Court protected-area halt. The early 2025 ruling halting development in all protected areas could affect 267 projects totaling 19,736 MW under the current IPPAN / sector estimate. This is a live constraint on "developable potential" claims that existing capacity figures do not yet reflect; the number should be attributed as industry exposure framing, not court quantification.

Fragile seasonal surplus. The transition from chronic shortage to seasonal surplus is recent (since 2023). The system still imports 400–500 MW daily in winter. Framing Nepal as "energy sufficient" ignores the dry-season dependency.

Per-capita electricity use is low. At 370–465 kWh/yr, Nepal's per-capita consumption is a fraction of regional peers. NEA's 97.6% grid-coverage figure measures reach, not consumption intensity.

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