In what could be termed an eventful year for the domestic power sector, a total of 351.24 MW of electricity has been connected to the national grid in the current fiscal year. With electricity generated from 20 power projects being connected to the national transmission system, the total installed capacity in the country has reached 2,619.24 MW by the first week of March 2023. The fiscal year 2022/23 saw Nepal's largest private sector-developed project Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Hydroelectric Project starting its commercial operation. The Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Project is the country's largest power project developed by the private sector to date. Developed by Sahas Urja Limited, the 86 MW Solukhola Project began commercial operation on March 1.

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Spokesperson Suresh Bhattarai said that the number of projects to be connected to the national system has been increasing in recent times.

NEA has projected an additional 811 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid in the current fiscal year. The state-owned power utility expects the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi, 57.3 MW Sanjen and Upper Sanjen, 102 MW Madhya Bhotekoshi, and 54 MW Super Dordi to come online by the end of this fiscal year. With the start of commercial operation, the Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) is the third largest hydroelectric project currently in operation in Nepal. The largest hydropower project in operation in Nepal is Upper Tamakoshi with an installed capacity of 456 MW. The second largest project, Kaligandaki Hydropower A, has a capacity of 144 MW. However, both are government-owned projects. Sahas Energy Limited received a license to develop Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) from the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) on September 17, 2014 and started construction of the run-of-river project in February 2018. The total cost of the project was Rs 11.86 billion. A consortium of 10 banks and financial institutions headed by the Nepal Investment Bank (now Nepal Investment Mega Bank) disbursed loans amounting to Rs 8.65 billion to the project. The company's promoters' equity was Rs 2.45 billion while Rs 1.05 billion was raised from the capital market. The commencement of commercial operation of Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) has been termed a milestone by the independent power producers. Krishna Prasad Acharya, Chairman of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN), said that the construction of the 86 MW project by the private sector is a significant achievement. "At a time when the private sector was struggling to develop a 5-10 MW project, Sahas Urja attempted a big hydroelectric project which has now started commercial production," said Acharya, adding, "The private sector's contribution to electricity generation in Nepal is significant. Therefore, the government needs to further support the private sector." Him Prasad Pathak, President of Sahas Urja said that the project has been brought to completion overcoming many challenges. "We succeeded in bringing the project into commercial operation despite challenges. This has encouraged us to develop large projects up to 500 MW with domestic investments in the future," he said. Power Project connected to national grid in this fiscal

Project	Developer	Capacity
Simara Solar Project	Api Power Company	1 MW
Grid Connected Solar PV Project	National Solar Power Co. Pvt. Ltd	5 MW
Dordi Khola HEP	Himalayan Power Partner  Pvt. Ltd	27 MW
Chepe Khola Small	Aashutosh Energy Pvt. Ltd	8.63 MW
Dordi-1 Khola	Dordi Khola Jal Bidhyut Company	12 MW
Upper Balefi A	Balefi Hydropower Company	36 MW
Lower Likhu	Swetganga Hydropower and Construction Ltd	28.1 MW
Dordi-A	Liberty Energy	25 MW
Mayakhola	Mayakhola Hydropower Company	14.9 MW
Solu Dudhkoshi	Sahas Urja Ltd	86 MW
Saiti Khola	Saidi Power	0.99 MW
Som Radhakrishna Solar Farm	Nepal Solar Farm	4 MW
Puwa-2	Peoples Power	4.96 MW
Middle Modi	Middle Modi Hydropower	15.1 MW
Mid Solu Khola	Mid Solu Hydropower	9.5 MW
Kalangagad	Kalanga Hydro Pvt. Ltd	15.33 MW
Upper Kalangagad	Sanigad Hydro	38.46 MW
Upper Machhakhola	Bikas Hydropower Company	4.55 MW
Upper Piluwakhola	Menchhiyam Hydropower	4.72 MW
Makarigad	Makarigad Hydropower	10 MW
Total		351.24 MW

  DOED issues construction licenses to 17 projects The Department of Electricity Development (DoED) has issued construction licenses to 17 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 519.24 MW till mid-February 2023. Similarly, DOED has issued survey licenses to 14 hydropower companies with a combined capacity of 1,412.07 MW in the current fiscal year. The department has also issued survey licenses to 12 companies that have proposed to generate 236.9 MW of solar electricity.