Urja Khabar
Pyuthan; Marking a historic milestone in Nepal's clean energy transition, Butwal Power Company Limited (BPC) has officially inaugurated its 50 kW Green Hydrogen Pilot Project at Darimchaur, Pyuthan. The initiative represents the country's first practical step toward exploring green hydrogen as a sustainable, low-carbon energy solution.
The cutting-edge pilot facility is situated adjacent to BPC’s 12 MW Jhimruk Hydropower Plant in western Nepal and utilizes surplus renewable hydropower to split water through electrolysis. The project has been successfully completed with technical assistance from the World Bank and financial backing from UK International Development through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
The high-profile inauguration ceremony brought together key energy sector stakeholders, including a Member of Parliament from Lumbini Province, officials from the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, local government representatives, highlevel officers from the FCDO and World Bank, the Chief District Officer (CDO) of Pyuthan, and executives from BPC and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
High-Purity Production and Technical Excellence
The Darimchaur facility features a state-of-the-art 50 kW alkaline electrolyzer system engineered to produce green hydrogen at an exceptional purity level of 99.99%. To enable rigorous testing, safety evaluation, and end-use application trials, the produced hydrogen is compressed and stored in specialized cylinders at 150 bar pressure.
The plant's Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract was executed by China's CPU Hydrogen Power Technology Co. Ltd. The system was successfully commissioned on April 13, 2026, marking the historic day the first hydrogen cylinder was filled on-site.
According to BPC, this pilot project is designed to act as an operational laboratory. It will generate critical data on hydrogen production efficiency, compression, storage mechanics, safety protocols, operational costs, and commercial viability tailored to Nepal's unique geography and infrastructure.
Globally, green hydrogen is hailed as the ultimate solution for decarbonizing sectors where direct electrification is challenging, such as heavy transport, manufacturing, chemical fertilizer production, and long-duration grid storage.
With immense hydropower potential, Nepal is ideally positioned to convert its seasonal surplus electricity into high-value green hydrogen for both domestic industries and future regional export markets. This momentum is expected to build further as the Government of Nepal advances its separate plans for a 2.5 MW green hydrogen pilot project in Hetauda.
Leveraging its six decades of pioneering experience in hydropower development, BPC aims to use the data from this Pyuthan pilot to help policymakers shape future regulatory frameworks, commercial scaling models, and safety standards to integrate hydrogen smoothly into Nepal’s national clean energy mix.
