Rasuwagadhi

Summary

Rasuwagadhi is a 111 MW Bhote Koshi run-of-river project in Rasuwa, developed within the Chilime/NEA subsidiary structure. NEA Engineering records commercial commissioning in January 2025, severe flood damage in July 2025 and partial generation returning in December 2025 while longer-term rehabilitation planning continued.

Ownership & Structure

Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Company Limited is an NEA subsidiary, structurally nested under Chilime Hydropower Company Limited (CHCL). Chilime holds a 33% stake, while the NEA directly holds 18%, keeping the project within the state umbrella. As a Chilime subsidiary, Rasuwagadhi benefits from CHCL's institutional brand — but unlike its parent, it does not enjoy the anomalous "Regular/Excess" tariff architecture.

PPA & Financial Model

Rasuwagadhi's PPA was signed in November 2011 under the standardized IPP tariff structure of NPR 4.80/kWh (wet season) and NPR 8.40/kWh (dry season), with a 3% annual escalation cap for eight years. By 2011, regulatory pressure from private IPPs had forced the NEA to subject even its own subsidiary ventures to the same commercial tariff schedule as independent developers. There is no evidence of renegotiation to elevate these rates.

The project raised NPR 66 crore through a local/staff IPO in 2018. Unlike Chilime (which IPO'd after 7 years of profitable operations), Rasuwagadhi's shares were sold while the project was still under construction.

Commissioning, Flood Damage & Restoration

The project entered commercial operation in January 2025. On 8 July 2025, rapid discharge from a supraglacial lake on the Purepu Glacier produced a destructive flood through the Lende/Bhote Koshi and Trishuli corridor. NDRRMA's first situation report recorded three hydropower plants among the affected infrastructure while the detailed causal and damage investigations were still under way. See NDRRMA Rasuwa Glacial Flood Situation Report 1 (2025).

NEA Engineering records severe damage at Rasuwagadhi to civil structures, hydromechanical equipment and electromechanical systems, followed by suspension of generation. Its FY 2081/82 report says one unit returned to partial generation on 6 December 2025 and two units generated under available dry-season discharge from 25 December. The report does not establish final rehabilitation completion or later operating status. See NEA Engineering Company Annual Report FY 2081/82.

August 2026 Destruction

On 26 August 2026, an ice-rock avalanche flood on the Lhende/Bhote Koshi destroyed the project outright. NEA's spokesperson stated the plant was "completely washed away"; Korea South-East Power (KOEN), linked to the project's works, reported 90 percent of its facilities destroyed. Forty-nine employees remained out of contact, with three to six estimated inside the six- or seven-storey underground powerhouse. The plant had been in partial generation for barely eight months after the July 2025 flood. See Kathmandu Post — Flood damage to Nepal's hydropower sector could run into billions (2026), Kathmandu Post — Hundreds feared trapped in hydropower tunnels after Bhotekoshi flood (2026) and the event page Bhotekoshi–Trishuli Flood 2026.

The 2026 destruction also resolves a registry ambiguity: the project sits on the Rasuwa Bhote Koshi (Lende), an upper tributary of the Trishuli in the Gandaki system — not the eastern Koshi-basin Bhote Koshi (the Sindhupalchok river, roughly 60 km east, was not flooded). The specification table below has been corrected accordingly.

Geopolitical Position

Located near Nepal's northern border with Tibet in Rasuwa district, Rasuwagadhi sits in a corridor that includes the Kerung border crossing — an increasingly strategic trade and infrastructure point between Nepal and China. This geographic positioning gives the project significance beyond its 111 MW capacity.

Specifications

Parameter	Value
Capacity	111 MW
Status	Destroyed 26 August 2026 flood; partial generation Dec 2025–Aug 2026 after July 2025 flood damage
Registry licence	Generation
River	Bhote koshi (Rasuwa/Lende, upper Trishuli tributary, Gandaki Basin)
District	Rasuwa
Province	Bagmati Pradesh
Commercial operation	January 2025
Flood interruption	8 July 2025

Limitations & Controversies

The page has a verified commissioning month and a dated partial-restoration record, but it does not establish final rehabilitation completion, current unit availability, the final flood-loss amount, post-restoration generation, the post-delay cost position or any revised tariff treatment.