Nepal Considers Data Center Potential

Why this is here: A single kilowatt-hour of power consumption by a data center could require over one liter of water for cooling, potentially straining water supplies in Kathmandu Valley.

Pragyan Pradhan examines Nepal’s capacity to host data centers, noting recent interest from global corporations like Google and Meta. He cautions that data centers aren’t uniform; AI-scale facilities demand substantial power, infrastructure, and capital—resources Nepal currently lacks. The country’s grid struggles to meet the uptime requirements of 99.99 percent needed for AI, and a 100 MW facility could cost $3–5 billion, a significant portion of Nepal’s $42 billion GDP.

Water usage also presents a challenge, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley, where data centers could strain limited supplies. Beyond infrastructure, Nepal needs specialized labor and updated regulations to address the energy intensity and waste produced by these facilities.

Pradhan suggests Nepal may find more immediate success with crypto mining or enterprise data centers, and focusing on AI inference rather than large-scale training. He believes Nepal’s clean energy sources could become a long-term advantage as sustainability concerns grow. Further work is needed to assess viable segments beyond AI.