KATHMANDU: Nepal’s national grid capacity is set to hit a milestone of 5,535 megawatts next fiscal year, bolstered by a target to add 1,040 megawatts of new electricity.

Presenting the federal budget before a joint session of the Federal Parliament on Friday, Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle unveiled an expansive energy pipeline focusing on storage, solar, and mega-generation.

The upcoming year’s targeted addition includes 670 MW from reservoir/storage-type projects and 370 MW from solar power plants.

To secure these targets and sustain future growth, the budget breaks down specific project classifications into construction acceleration, new contract rollouts, and advanced feasibility studies.

The government will aggressively fast-track projects that are already underway or scheduled for intensive construction mobilization this year, including the Tanahu Hydropower Project (140 MW, Storage-type), Rahughat Hydropower Project (40 MW), Upper Trishuli 3B (37 MW), Upper Modi A (42 MW), Upper Modi (18.2 MW), and the Budhiganga Hydropower Project (20 MW).

Concurrently, contract bidding processes and financing arrangements will be completed to initiate construction on major state-backed and employee-funded undertakings, namely the Upper Arun (1,061 MW), Uttar Ganga (828 MW), Chainpur Seti (210 MW), Tamakoshi-5 (99 MW), Ghunsakhola (77 MW), and the Betan Karnali Hydropower Project (439 MW), the tendering of which will initiate via Employee Provident Fund investment.

Finally, the state will finance advanced technical studies for major prospective basins—including Arun-4 (490 MW), Nalagadh (417 MW), and Naumure (281 MW)—while adopting an autonomous, fully empowered Authority Model to manage and execute the mega-reservoir 1,200 MW Budhigandaki Hydropower Project.