Hydroelectricity is currently China's largest renewable energy source and the second overall after coal. [1] According to the International Hydropower Association, China is the worlds largest producer of hydroelectricity as of 2021. [2] China's installed hydroelectric capacity in 2021 was 390.9 GW, including 36.4 GW of pumped storage hydroelectricity capacity, up from 233 GW in 2011. [3] [4] That year, hydropower generated 1,300 TWh of power, [5] an increase of 68 TWh over 2018 when hydropower generated 1,232 TWh of power, accounting for roughly 18% of China's total electricity generation. [6] [7] [8]
China's installed hydroelectric capacity in 2024 was 426 GW [9]
Due to China's insufficient reserves of fossil fuels and the government's preference for energy independence, hydropower plays a big part in the energy policy of the country. China's potential hydropower capacity is estimated at up to 400 GW. [10] There is therefore considerable potential for further hydro development. [1]
As of 2015, hydroelectric plants in China had a relatively low productivity with an average capacity factor of 31%, due to seasonal variability of rainfall, rapid construction, and significant energy loss due to need for long transmission lines to connect remote dams in the mountainous south-west to demand in southern China. [1]
Although hydroelectricity represents the largest renewable and low greenhouse gas emissions energy source in the country, the social and environmental impact of dam construction in China has been large, with millions of people forced to relocate and large scale damage to the environment. [11]
Name | Chinese name | River | Years of completion | Installed capacity (MW) | Annual production (TW-hour) [12] | Area flooded (km2) | Location | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Three Gorges | Yangtze | 2008 | 22,500 | 98.8 [13] | 1,084 | |||
Baihetan Dam | Jinsha | 2022 | 16,000 | 60.24 [14] | ||||
Xiluodu | Jinsha | 2014 [15] | 13,860 [16] | 55.2 | ||||
Wudongde Dam | 乌东德水电站 | Jinsha | 2021 | 10,200 | 26°20′02″N102°37′48″E / 26.33389°N 102.63000°E | |||
Xiangjiaba | Jinsha | 2014 [17] | 7,750 [18] | 30.7 | 95.6 | |||
Longtan | Hongshui | 2007/2009 | 6,426 | 18.7 [19] | ||||
Nuozhadu | Mekong | 2014 [20] | 5,850 | 23.9 [21] | 320 | |||
Jinping-II | Yalong | 2014 | 4,800 | |||||
Laxiwa | Yellow | 2010 | 4,200 [22] | 10.2 | ||||
Xiaowan | Mekong | 2010 | 4,200 [23] | 19 | 190 | |||
Fengning PS [24] [25] [26] | 丰宁抽水蓄能电站 | 2024 | 3,600 | |||||
Jinping-I | Yalong | 2014 | 3,600 | 17 | 82.5 | |||
Ertan Dam | Yalong | 1999 | 3,300 | 17 | 101 | |||
Pubugou Dam | Dadu | 2009/2010 | 3,300 | 14.6 | ||||
Goupitan Dam | Wu | 2009/2011 | 3,000 [27] | 9.67 | 94 | |||
Guanyinyan Dam | Jinsha | 2014/2016 | 3,000 | 13.62 | ||||
Gezhouba Dam | Yangtze | 1988 | 2,715 | 17.01 | ||||
Jinanqiao Dam | Jinsha | 2010 | 2,400 | |||||
Liyuan Dam | Jinsha | 2014/2015 | 2,400 | |||||
Guandi Dam | Yalong | 2013 | 2,400 | |||||
Huanggou PS [24] [25] [26] | 荒沟抽水蓄能电站 | 2022 | 1,200 | |||||
Hohhot PS [24] [25] [26] | 呼和浩特抽水蓄能电站 | 2014 | 1,200 | |||||
Panlong PS [24] [25] [26] | 蟠龙抽水蓄能电站 | 2024 | 1,200 | |||||
Shenzhen PS [28] | 深圳抽水蓄能电站 | 2017 | 1,200 | |||||
Tianchi PS [29] | 天池抽水蓄能电站 | 2023 | 1,200 |
Name | Chinese name | River | Expected completion | Expected capacity (MW) | Expected production (TW-hour) | Area flooded (km2) | Location | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hongping PS [30] | 洪屏抽水蓄能电站 | 2,400 | ||||||
Wendeng PS [24] [25] [26] | 文登抽水蓄能电站 | 1,800 |
The Shilongba Hydropower Station is the first hydroelectric power plant in China. [31] It was built in Yunnan province in 1912, with a capacity of 240 kW. Due to the subsequent period of political and social instability, little additional progress was made in power infrastructure in the country at that time. The total installed capacity before the Japanese occupation was only about 10 MW. During the Japanese occupation several large scale hydroelectric projects were built, and total capacity reached 900 MW. Energy infrastructure however suffered heavy damage during the second World War, and the operational capacity after the war was only about 580 MW. [32]
After the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949, a program of dam construction was initiated. However, most of these dams were built for irrigation and not intended to produce electricity. Moreover, construction was carried out mostly by unskilled peasants. During this period, the steady supply of cheap domestic coal hindered the development of hydroelectricity. [32] Installed hydroelectric capacity grew somewhat after the 1960s, with plants of growing size and complexity, reaching a total of 20 GW in 1980. [32]
As of 2020, China had more than 150 dams with a generating capacity of at least 300 megawatts and total installed capacity of 369 gigawatts. [33] : 203
As of 2021, China operates four of the world's six largest dams. [33] : 201 These include the world's biggest (Three Gorges Dam, with 22.5 gigawatts capacity) and second biggest (Baihetan Dam). [33] : 201
After completion of the Baihetan Dam in 2021, all planned large scale dams had been completed. [34]
Hydropower is considered a renewable and clean energy source. [35] However large dams, such as the Three Gorges Dam or the Xiluodu Dam have had human and environmental impacts on the areas surrounding dam reservoirs, including erosion, flooding of farmland and destruction of fish breeding habitats. [36] [37] [38] Then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao noted in a report to the National People's Congress in 2007 that dam building in China had displaced 23 million people over the years. [38]
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW), the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20 TWh of electricity per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin. After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam's annual production reached nearly 112 TWh, breaking the previous world record of ~103 TWh set by Itaipu Dam in 2016.
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