Only 6.1% of total primary energy supply in HKH countries is renewable.
Hydropower potential of 882 GW exists, but less than half is currently tapped.
Fossil fuels dominate most countries; climate change threatens hydropower reliability further.
Despite holding immense renewables potential, clean energy makes up a very low (6.1%) proportion of total primary energy supply (TPES) in the countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH), with hydropower singled out as being ‘hugely underexploited’, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) report.
The ICIMOD report stated that a total of 882 Gigawatt (GW) of hydropower potential has been identified in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The vast majority of that potential (635 GW) comes from the waters of the trans-boundary rivers of the HKH region.
Just 49% of this potential is currently tapped. Non-hydro clean energy potential (solar and wind) in the HKH region, meanwhile, stands at 3 Terawatts.
While the total combined renewable energy targets of the countries of the HKH amount to 1.7 Terawatts (as per their Nationally Determined Contributions), the renewable energy potential within the HKH region alone is over 3.5 Terawatts.
While Bhutan and Nepal generate 100% of their electricity from renewables, fossil fuels overwhelmingly dominate other HKH countries’ electricity generation: representing 98% in Bangladesh, 77% in India, 76% in Pakistan’s, 67% in China, and 51% in Myanmar.
On the other hand, biofuels and waste constitutes an ‘alarmingly high’ proportion of total primary energy supply (TPES) in four HKH countries — contributing two-thirds of Nepal’s; half of Myanmar’s; and one quarter of Bhutan and Pakistan’s energy supply. This reflects rural communities’ continued reliance on traditional materials (wood, crop residues, livestock dung) for cooking and heating, despite the impacts on air quality and human health.
The new study, Together we have more power: status, challenges, and the potential for regional renewable energy cooperation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, evaluates existing energy sources, the share of renewable sources in the overall energy mix, analyses climatic and non-climatic risks to the energy sector and explores potential for renewable energy cooperation.
Hydropower and Climate Risks
According to a 2019 ScienceDirect, the HKH region's hydropower potential is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events due to climate change, such as glacial retreat and altered river flows.
These changes threaten the reliability of hydropower generation, indicating the urgent need for implementing adaptive infrastructure and diversified renewable energy strategies in the region.
