Nepal Hydropower Developers & Companies: Chilime, Sanima, SJVN, BPC

Nepal's hydropower is usually catalogued plant by plant, but people increasingly search by the company that builds and runs the plants — 'Chilime projects', 'Sanima hydropower projects list', 'SJVN Nepal projects'. This page answers those queries by rolling up Amarnepal's per-plant hydropower database into a company-level view: for each major developer it names the plants they promote, sums the megawatts (MW) under their management, and separates what is already generating from what is still under construction or proposed.

Developers in Nepal fall into a handful of legal categories. The state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA, Nepal Vidyut Pradhikaran) builds directly and also through project-specific subsidiary companies. Independent power producers (IPPs) are private domestic firms, many listed on the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE). Some plants are joint ventures; others are foreign-funded, built by Norwegian, Chinese or Indian investors, often under build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) terms. Every generation project must hold a licence from the Department of Electricity Development (DoED, Vidyut Bikas Bibhag) under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

A few caveats apply. Capacities are installed nameplate figures in MW, and status reflects research as of mid-2026. Special-purpose-vehicle (SPV) company names change and promoters sometimes hold plants through affiliated firms, so the 'developer' shown is the promoter or operator of record. Hundreds of small plants below about 10 MW feed the grid and are not exhaustively listed here; the focus is on the larger operators named in the database plus the marquee pipeline projects that define each company.

The Nepal Electricity Authority is by far the largest single force in Nepali hydropower, owning and operating a legacy fleet of state plants and promoting the country's biggest new projects through subsidiaries. NEA's directly owned stations include Kaligandaki A (144 MW, 2002) — long the second-largest plant in Nepal — along with Middle Marsyangdi (70 MW), Marsyangdi (69 MW), Upper Trishuli 3A (60 MW), Trishuli, Devighat, Chameliya (30 MW), Modi Khola and Gandak. NEA also runs the Kulekhani cascade in Makwanpur (Kulekhani I, II and III), which together form Nepal's only storage-reservoir hydropower complex.

For large new builds NEA works through project-specific subsidiary companies, several of which are part-listed on NEPSE so citizens can invest. The flagship is Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Ltd, whose 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi plant in Dolakha (commissioned 2021, 2078 BS) is Nepal's largest power station and was financed almost entirely by domestic institutions. Other NEA-subsidiary vehicles include Tanahu Hydropower Ltd (140 MW Tanahu, under construction, plus the proposed 126 MW Lower Seti), Raghuganga Hydropower Ltd (40 MW Rahughat), Tamakoshi Jalvidhyut Company Ltd (99.8 MW Tamakoshi V) and Trishuli Jal Vidhyut Company Ltd (37 MW Upper Trishuli 3B).

NEA's generation arm for the largest storage and reservoir schemes is Vidhyut Utpadan Company Ltd (VUCL). VUCL leads or co-develops a pipeline of very large proposed projects: the 1,902 MW Mugu Karnali, the 480 MW Phukot Karnali (with India's NHPC), the 454 MW Kimathanka Arun and the 417 MW Nalgad storage project. Separately, NEA subsidiaries Upper Arun Hydroelectric Ltd and Uttarganga Power Company Ltd are advancing the 1,063 MW Upper Arun and the 828 MW Uttarganga storage project respectively. These pipeline megawatts are not yet built, but they show why the state complex still dwarfs any private developer.

Chilime Hydropower Company Ltd (NEPSE: CHCL) is an NEA-affiliated public company that pioneered Nepal's model of allocating shares to local communities. Its own 22.1 MW Chilime plant on the Chilime Khola in Rasuwa was commissioned on 25 August 2003 (2060 BS) and set aside 10% of shares for residents of the project area — a template later copied across the industry. Over two decades Chilime has grown from a single-plant utility into the promoter of one of the country's largest hydropower clusters.

Chilime develops its newer plants through three subsidiary companies, which together hold four projects totalling about 270.3 MW: Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Company Ltd (111 MW Rasuwagadhi, commercial operation December 2024), Madhya Bhotekoshi Jalavidyut Company Ltd (102 MW Madhya/Middle Bhotekoshi, October 2025) and Sanjen Jalavidhyut Company Ltd (42.5 MW Sanjen plus 14.8 MW Upper Sanjen, 2024). Counting the parent's own plant, the Chilime group manages roughly 292 MW of operational capacity, concentrated in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli corridors of Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok in the Koshi basin.

The cluster came online in a rush: three of the four subsidiary projects — Rasuwagadhi, Sanjen and Upper Sanjen — were completed in 2024, adding about 168 MW to the national grid, with Madhya Bhotekoshi following in October 2025 after a decade of earthquake, flood and contractor delays. Because CHCL and its listed subsidiaries are traded on NEPSE, they are among the most widely held names in Nepal's hydropower share market, though this directory tracks the operating portfolio rather than the stock.

The MV Dugar Group has become one of Nepal's biggest private hydropower promoters through its Likhu cluster on the Likhu Khola in Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga. Three plants — Likhu-1 (77 MW), Likhu-2 (about 54 MW) and Likhu A (29.04 MW) — were commissioned between early 2023 and 2024, giving the group roughly 160 MW of operating capacity (industry sources cite a combined 162 MW), all fitted with Andritz turbines. Its pipeline is anchored by the 160 MW Lapche Khola project in Dolakha, developed under Nasa Hydropower Ltd and under construction.

The Sanima Group, better known for banking, is also a substantial IPP. Its directly operated fleet includes the 73 MW Sanima Middle Tamor in Taplejung (commercial operation April 2024) and the 22 MW Sanima Mai in Ilam (2015), together with the downstream 7 MW Mai Cascade — roughly 102 MW in all. A wider circle of Sanima-affiliated special-purpose companies holds further plants in the Koshi basin, so the group's true footprint is larger than the plants filed directly under the Sanima name.

Butwal Power Company (BPC), incorporated in 1966, is Nepal's pioneer private power company and remains an active operator. It runs the 12.3 MW Jhimruk (1994, 2051 BS) and the 9.4 MW Andhi Khola in the West Rapti and Gandaki hills, holds shares in the 30 MW Nyadi plant (a joint venture with Lamjung Electricity Development Co.), and is a majority (about 56%) shareholder in the 37.6 MW Kabeli-A project under construction in Taplejung, through Kabeli Energy Ltd. Other notable private names include Sahas Urja Ltd, whose 86 MW Solu Khola (Dudhkoshi) plant was the largest private-sector hydropower project in Nepal at its 2023 commissioning, and Mountain Energy Nepal Ltd, developer of the 42 MW Mistri Khola in Myagdi (2021).

Nepal's first wave of large private power came from foreign investors under long-term BOOT contracts. Himal Power Ltd, a Norwegian-led company (Statkraft, BKK and partners), built the 60 MW Khimti I plant on the Khimti Khola straddling Dolakha and Ramechhap, in commercial operation from 11 July 2000 — one of Nepal's first large foreign-funded schemes, whose ownership was set to transfer to Nepali hands at the end of its concession. Around the same time, the US-led Bhote Koshi Power Company brought the 45 MW Upper Bhotekoshi online in Sindhupalchok (January 2001), Nepal's first privately, foreign-funded run-of-river plant.

Chinese state contractors are now the most visible foreign builders. The 50 MW Upper Marsyangdi A in Lamjung (commercial operation 2017) is owned by Sinohydro-Sagarmatha Power Company — a vehicle roughly 90% held by PowerChina Resources with a local Sagarmatha Power stake — and was built and financed with China Eximbank support. PowerChina and its Sinohydro arm have also served as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors on NEA projects such as the 60 MW Upper Trishuli 3A. Separately, the China Gezhouba group (part of Energy China) is promoter of the proposed 270 MW Bheri-1 storage project.

These operators illustrate the range of foreign involvement: some, like Himal Power, own and run the plant for a fixed concession; others, like PowerChina, appear as both equity investor and contractor; and Indian public-sector firms (covered next) sit at the largest end of the pipeline. In every case the developer must still hold a DoED generation licence and sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA or arrange cross-border export.

Indian public-sector undertakings hold the largest pipeline of any foreign developer group, concentrated in the export-oriented eastern rivers. SJVN Ltd (formerly Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) is building the 900 MW Arun-3 in Sankhuwasabha through its subsidiary SJVN Arun-3 Power Development Company (SAPDC) — the single largest hydropower project under construction in Nepal, on a build-own-operate-transfer basis with a 25-year operating period before handover. SAPDC leadership reviewed on-site progress at the Phaksinda dam through late 2025 as the project advanced toward completion.

SJVN's Nepal portfolio does not stop at Arun-3. The 669 MW Lower Arun — a tailrace, dam-less scheme designed to operate in tandem with Arun-3 — is under development, and the 490 MW Arun-4 is planned as a joint company owned 51% by SJVN and 49% by NEA. Together these three Arun-basin projects give SJVN roughly 2,059 MW of committed and proposed capacity in Nepal, easily the largest single-developer pipeline in the country.

Two other Indian names loom large in the proposed column. GMR Energy holds the 900 MW Upper Karnali export project under a project development agreement, while NHPC Ltd is tied to the 1,200 MW West Seti and Seti River-6 joint storage project (with Investment Board Nepal) and partners VUCL on the 480 MW Phukot Karnali. The India-Nepal Pancheshwar Development Authority is charged with the 6,480 MW Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project on the Mahakali — a long-discussed bi-national scheme still at the study stage.

Because promoter names and SPV structures change, it is worth confirming any developer's holdings against primary records rather than a single article. The Department of Electricity Development (doed.gov.np) maintains the licence registry — survey licences for projects under study and generation licences for those authorised to build and operate — searchable by company and project. NEA's website and annual reports list the plants it owns directly and through subsidiaries, and record the PPAs signed with private developers.

For listed companies, the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) and share portals such as ShareSansar publish shareholding structures, promoter holdings and financial reports, which is the cleanest way to trace which listed firm actually owns a plant. Large export and reservoir projects are also documented by Investment Board Nepal (IBN) for schemes above the DoED threshold. Company websites — Chilime, Butwal Power Company, Sanima, MV Dugar and SAPDC among them — carry project fact sheets, though these should be cross-checked against government data.

When comparing figures, note that a developer's 'capacity under management' can be measured in different ways: only operational plants, operational plus under-construction, or the full pipeline including proposed projects. This directory reports each, and flags pipeline megawatts as not-yet-built, so the same company can honestly be described with very different totals depending on scope.