China wipes out hundreds of small hydropower projects, spares large dams
China is shutting down hundreds of small hydropower dams. But the campaign has been criticized for leaving large dams, which are the main culprits of environmental destruction, untouched.
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| According toReutersIn a mountain village in Sichuan province, Chinese authorities demolished seven small hydropower dam projects this year. The move is part of a nationwide program to close hundreds of small, dilapidated dams and regulate the hydropower industry after years of rampant, uncontrolled construction. |
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| The dams being removed are on a tributary of the Dadu River, which feeds into the Yangtze, Asia’s longest and largest river. The government says the “uncontrolled development” of thousands of small hydropower projects has disrupted the region’s ecosystem. But environmental groups say the campaign is unlikely to be effective because large state-owned dams will not be affected, even though they are responsible for most of the damage. They point to the possibility of flooding entire towns or ecosystems, increasing the risk of earthquakes, landslides and even climate change. |
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| On the Zhougong River, farmer Zhang, 70, said large hydropower dams have devastated the ecosystem. Zhang calls himself a “hydropower migrant” after his land was flooded by large dams 10 years ago. He said changes in the Zhougong River’s temperature and flow have taken a toll on local fish. Among them, a favorite fish of the late Sichuanese leader Deng Xiaoping has completely disappeared. |
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| “The fish here now taste terrible, fit only for dogs,” Zhang said, pointing to three silver carp he caught after they were swept away by floodwaters from an upstream reservoir. For farmers like Zhang, the massive dams have drained the Zhougong, a river on which people have relied for decades. “Tens of thousands of people make a living here, but they will soon be unable to do so,” he said. |
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| Twenty years ago, China went on a dam-building spree in an effort to develop industry and bring electricity to poor rural areas not connected to the national grid. Investors quickly flocked to the projects. Environmentalists liken the wave to the steel-smelting boom of the ill-fated Great Leap Forward of 1958, which aimed to industrialize but led to widespread famine as farmers focused on producing metal instead of food. Here, workers cut steel pipes controlling the flow of the Zhougong River. |
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| “Hydropower was a good solution at the time, but it became too much and we lost control,” said Chen Guojie, a hydropower expert at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengdu. Now Beijing appears to want to reverse course and pay more attention to the environment. It faces a decision on how many small projects, which contribute about 100 gigawatts to the country, will be closed, while protecting large state investments. Pictured, the management office at one of the small power plants on a tributary of the Dadu River. |
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| Sichuan is a prime example of the lack of planning. In 2017, the province’s total hydropower output reached 75 GW, more than the total output of most Asian countries and twice the capacity of the provincial grid. This reflects a huge waste. At the end of June, China’s hydropower output was about 340 GW, of which a third is believed to come from small hydro projects under 50 MW. The country’s total electricity generation is 1,740 GW, including nuclear and coal-fired power plants. |
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| In June, a state audit identified 24,100 small hydropower projects in 11 regions along the Yangtze River, saying environmental protection costs for some plants were too high despite their “historic contributions” to the country’s development. A month later, Beijing ordered the region to ban new hydropower construction and “rectify” some illegal projects. It is unclear how many have been forced to cease operations. |
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| “There are no unified standards. We still don’t know which projects will be demolished and which will be kept,” said Yang Yong, president of the Hengduan Mountain Research Society, an environmental group. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Environment also criticized the “overdevelopment” of dams on the Zhougong River. Dams that have been shut down are often projects that were built illegally in protected areas or encroached on “ecological red lines” drawn to ensure ecological safety. Pictured is a signboard of a fish breeding facility near a dam. |
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| However, along the river there are also 10 plants managed by state-owned enterprises, including Huadian Group, Guodian and the State Grid Corporation. These establishments have long urged authorities to severely punish small hydropower dams that are not planned, affecting their profits. Activist Yang suspects that small projects are being shut down so that large dams can freely access the national grid. “Small dams that are legal have grid connection agreements. If they cannot access it just because there are many large dams, that is not right at all,” Yang said. |
