Kathmandu. President of Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Ganesh Karki has urged French investors to invest in Nepal’s hydropower sector.
Addressing the France-Nepal Hydropower Investment Summit in Paris today, Chairman Karki urged investors to invest in Nepal without worrying about the market as Nepal’s hydropower has an important role to play in meeting the growing energy demand in South Asia.
Nepal’s total power generation capacity was 250 MW before 1999, but today nepal has increased to 3,500 MW within 25 years of entering the private sector. Karki informed that the contribution of the private sector has reached 80 percent i.e. 2800 MW.
Recalling france’s support and cooperation in nepal’s achievements, Karki said Nepal and France have been cooperating in bilateral relations, financial instruments, technical cooperation and institutional development. Such partnerships reflect nepal and France’s shared commitment to sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient energy development, he said.
Karki reminded that France had provided financial assistance for the financial management of the 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project under construction on the Trishuli River.
France, in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation, provided a $453 million loan for the project. It is believed that this project will significantly help in nepal’s power supply.
Likewise, the HydroNepal project, launched in 2025 in collaboration with the French Embassy, Nepal Electricity Authority and Blue Water Intelligence, is helping to digitize river basins and improve climate forecasting capacity using artificial intelligence-based tools, karki said.
He said that the model like HydroNepal, which has been started under public-private collaboration, can also work in areas such as carbon trade, cross-border trade, and research.
There is immense potential in Nepal to work in both business to business and public-private partnership models. Such partnerships can also work in the areas of technology transfer, consultancy, project development, green financing and innovation.
Karki said french companies specializing in hydropower equipment, smart grid systems and engineering services would be suitable to collaborate with Nepal’s growing energy market. Such partnerships are also expected to help create jobs, economic growth, and transfer cutting edge technology.
Karki also said that Nepal is preparing to welcome a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) keeping in mind the government’s target of producing 28,500 MW of energy by 2035. As per the target, 15,000 MW will be exported to India while the remaining 13,500 MW will be used indigenously. Karki said that this ambitious scheme has come as an opportunity for international investors in various sectors including insurance, banking, construction, education, health and infrastructure.
Karki also assured that IPPAN would facilitate to promote more cooperation and investment in Nepal regarding the project, which has immense potential for international investors who want to explore the project, which is being expanded with an estimated investment of about US$ 46 billion.
This approach includes the development of energy trade and joint investment, promotion of equity investment in existing hydropower projects, credit investment for hydropower projects, utilization of expertise in hydropower development, expansion of renewable energy technologies, knowledge transfer to stakeholders, capacity development and training, joint research and development, financial arrangement of large hydropower projects, policy support and institutional strengthening, business opportunity creation, supply of hydropower equipment and engineering services. According to Karki, modernization of smart grid and transmission systems, digitization of hydrological forecasting and hydropower operations, providing consultancy and project management services, starting carbon trading, facilitating energy trade and regional integration will open the door to many opportunities.
“Considering the huge investment potential in Nepal in the future, I am confident that Nepal will continue to make progress towards achieving its energy goals with the support of international investors and the private sector,” karki said.
Karki also urged the government to participate in the Power Summit-2025 to be held on October 15 and 25 and extend support and cooperation towards establishing Nepal as an energy supplying country in the regional market.
