The benefits and costs of China’s hydropower: Development or slowdown?

Abstract

During the past few years, the Chinese government has formulated ambitious plans for building many large hydropower stations, but so far it has withheld final approval for the construction of the majority. The environmental problems and rising cost of coal-fired stations, China's Copenhagen commitment, the creation of a high-voltage national power grid, and the availability of cheap capital should have all worked to the advantage of hydropower. Moreover, present projects require much less resettlement than those in previous decades. However, since 2006 political concern for the social problems of forced migration and distrust of the business alliance between power companies and provincial governments seem to be obstacles. Stricter regulations for environmental impact assessment, more comprehensive planning of water and reservoir use, and a lack of staff have lengthened approval processes. Central and provincial governments do not agree on developmental priorities and electricity prices. Uncertainty about obligations imposed on investing power companies is a factor too. Thus, hydropower policy suffers from conflicting goals and uneven commitment of various bureaucratic interests. Even if a clear policy commitment could improve policy implementation, China's target of 330 GW of regular hydropower capacity in 2020, and thereby its renewable energy target, are unlikely to be met.

Alternative Energy Development and China's Energy Future

“…The political uncertainty surrounding large hydro development in China has affected the construction of new dams in the last few years, with delayed construction of many of the projects included in a 2008 NDRC list of new hydropower stations. In fact, only 17 GW of new hydropower projects were approved for construction from 2007 to 2009 (Vermeer, 2011). The political divisiveness over new hydropower construction has stalled short-term development as most of the supportive policies and programs have shifted towards wind and solar power.…”

“…The fast paced hydropower growth over the last three decades means China has already tapped into more than half of its technological potential of ~400 GW, compared to about 70% in developed countries. Although hydropower resources may still exist along some of China's rivers, utilization is limited as the severe droughts of 2009 and floods of 2010 have raised concerns about the actual availability of water for power generation (Vermeer, 2011). Large reservoir-based dams also face inherent challenges in the environmental impacts of inundation of large areas including cultural heritage sites, fragmentation of river ecosystems, and reservoir sedimentation upstream as well as ecological effects of erosion and water temperature changes downstream.…”

“…In part, this was due to the addition of the 26 generator sets in the Three Gorges Dam hydropower station with total capacity addition of 18.2 GW by the end of 2008. In addition to this reported conventional hydro installed capacity, China also had 13 GW of pumped hydro installed capacity in 2009 and over 40 GW of small hydropower that is not gridconnected and primarily for rural use 1 (Vermeer, 2011). There are two main types of hydropower installations including conventional reservoir dams, which use hydraulic head to control hydroelectricity generation, and run-of-river dams, which use the natural flow of water in streams and rivers to generate electricity.…”

“…In 2006, NDRC also issued rules that required resettlement plans covering employment, education, environmental and other social provisions to be in place before starting hydropower projects. These rules essentially require developers to negotiate a resettlement compensation standard with local authorities, financing agency and the NDRC before their new hydropower project can be approved (Vermeer, 2011). Public participation of residents near proposed hydropower sites in the project approval process was also formalized through the 2006 Preliminary Rules for Mass Participation in Environmental Impact Evaluation.…”

“…Over the next two decades, a total of 44 Mt of water along with 12 Mt of copper, nearly 8 Mt of cement, 4 Mt of steel and 3 Mt of copper may be needed to build and operate all of China's dams. (Vermeer, 2011). In 2006, NDRC also issued rules that required resettlement plans covering employment, education, environmental and other social provisions to be in place before starting hydropower projects.…”