Nepal bet nearly everything on hydropower - the floods show why that's a problem
Puspa Sharma, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies, agrees Nepal has to diversify its energy sources, but warns this can be done “only to a limited extent”.
“While there is untapped capacity in wind and solar, hydropower really is the one that gives Nepal massive competitive advantage vis-a-vis its South Asian neighbours,” he says, citing various studies comparing renewable energy potential in the region.
Getty ImagesHydropower continues to dominate large-scale investments in Nepal, and some climate activists say the funding has continued despite known disaster risks.
The Upper Trishuli-1 project, which has been all but destroyed after last week’s floods, was one of Nepal’s largest foreign direct investment ventures, valued at about $647m. Its backers include the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation.
The Upper Trishuli 3A, which has also been severely hit, was funded by China’s Export-Import Bank.
Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, says international lenders were “acutely aware of the extreme danger to which they were exposing thousands of labourers, officials, residents, rivers, infrastructure and landscape”.
“Their own reports repeatedly highlighted it. But they did not take any preventive steps, did not demand stringent checks and balances, nor were they prepared for a calamity they knew could occur,” he says.