Hydropower is China\u2019s second-largest energy source after coal and the country\u2019s installed hydropower capacity is set to rise to 350 gigawatts (GW) by 2020, up from 300 GW today. The country is already home to half the world\u2019s 80,000 dams, more than the US, Brazil and Canada combined.<\/p>\n
Chinese authorities hope that a large-scale rollout of hydropower can help reduce toxic smog that has triggered public outrage and health scares both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
Hydropower has already helped slow growth in China\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, some experts claim. China\u2019s coal use fell by nearly 8% in the first four months of this year \u2013 in part, says Greenpeace, due to power fed into the grid by hydro plants since brought online.<\/p>\n
\u201cHydropower is one of the main ways for the power sector to replace fossil fuels, save energy and reduce emissions,\u201d points out Zhang Boting, deputy secretary general of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering.<\/p>\n
China is already the largest dam builder in the world, but its vast hydropower resources are underdeveloped compared with its potential, meaning the country is overwhelmingly reliant on coal, says Zhang.<\/p>\n
If China exploited its remaining hydropower resources it could meet a fifth of China\u2019s peak energy demand and displace about 1.3 billion tonnes of coal, he adds.<\/p>\n
The most enthusiastic advocates of new dams in China say the country can almost double its current hydropower capacity to 540 GW by 2050.<\/p>\n
High price for clean air<\/strong><\/p>\n Replacing coal with hydropower may lead to cleaner air for citizens on the east coast, but there will be a high environmental price to pay for people who live in the more remote and ecologically fragile south-west, where at least 80% of the new dams will be built.<\/p>\n Chinese environmentalists have called for an urgent halt to large hydro projects, pointing out that the country\u2019s dash for dams has already destroyed river ecosystems, fish habitats and raised fears about safety in earthquake-prone regions.<\/p>\n The concentration of dams will be particularly dense on the Jinsha (upper Yangtze) River, where cascades equal to five times the 22.5 GW capacity of the Three Gorges dam are proposed. These dams will not only hold back water flow but also silt, heightening risk of major subsidence in the Yangtze delta and floods around major cities such as Shanghai.<\/p>\n Other cascades will pack China\u2019s last free-flowing international rivers \u2013 such as the Mekong and Brahmaputra \u2013 which will stem water flow and could spark tensions with India and south-east Asian countries downstream.<\/p>\n Scepticism<\/strong><\/p>\n Many experts are sceptical that more hydropower means less coal. \u201cHydropower will never completely replace thermal power,\u201d argues Fan Xiao, geologist and chief engineer at the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau.<\/p>\n So-called \u2018green\u2019 hydropower is in fact spurring the construction of new coal-powered plants in the south-west, says Fan.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the seasonal flow of rivers affects hydropower, some areas have built more thermal power to solve the problem of peak energy load.\u201d Guizhou province has built more coal-fired generating capacity than hydropower to ensure a stable supply of power in the dry season. Sichuan, Guangxi and Yunnan are doing the same.<\/p>\n Waste and inefficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n China\u2019s installed capacity in hydro is impressive, but its contribution to the country\u2019s overall energy mix is far more modest. Due to rushed construction and other industry problems, Chinese dams are highly inefficient, with an average capacity factor of 31% \u2013 about two-thirds the world average. Capacity factor refers to the amount of electricity produced compared to the installed capacity<\/p>\n And since the bulk of new hydropower plants will be built in remote mountainous regions of the south-west, electricity has to be transferred vast distances to manufacturing hubs of southern China \u2013 meaning a lot of electricity\u00a0 China could be losing enough hydroelectricity to power the UK and Germany for a year as a result of poor planning and weak grid infrastructure, Reuters recently reported.<\/p>\n Meanwhile hydropower development has further spurred energy-hungry and polluting industries, as provincial governments try to absorb the extra electricity generated in remote areas. One example is the Lijiang aluminum refinery, which is close to one of China\u2019s top tourist destinations in Yunnan.<\/p>\n In addition, extreme weather caused by climate change may mean generating power from unpredictable river flow becomes increasingly unviable in the future.<\/p>\n \n
\nThere is anecdotal evidence that for every new hydropower dam built in the south-west, an additional coal-fired power plant is also constructed, often as back up.<\/p>\n![\"Untitled-1\"](\"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Untitled-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>is lost along the way.<\/p>\n