Impacts of Climate change on Hydropower Potential in Kaligandaki River Basin -A Case Study of Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower Project, North of Nepal

Abstract

Nepal has a considerable hydropower potentiality, however the analysis of Kaligandaki River Basin optimization of power potentiality and subsequently identified two critical impacts of climate change-GLOF's and variability of runoff along with temperature difference are most pronounced during the dry winter season, and least during the height of the monsoon. In Himalaya region the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that global warming is occurring relatively faster in recent decades, with the rate of temperature increase being greater in the high altitude Himalaya, then lowland parts of Nepal (Shrestha et-al 1999). It is more susceptible to impacts of climate change than a reservoir based hydro installation, on meteorological data obtained from Lete station, near a hydropower project site (Kaligandaki Gorge Hydropower),precipitation patterns slightly increase of 0.28mm,however overall steeply decreasing trend at Jomsom station. This study reveals the optimization of power potentiality at Kaligandaki River Basin and impacts of Climate change in Kaligandaki George Hydropower projects a case study. In this basin, power potentiality area some hydropower station and their energy production fluctuations over the season reflect the climate change impacts to the hydropower production in Nepal as a whole.