Green small hydropower in China: Practices and drivers: Fid-Bau Portal

Green small hydropower in China: Practices and drivers

Cui, Zhenhua / Xu, Jincai

After more than one hundred years of development, the small hydropower (SHP) development rate of China has reached 58% with limited potential for hydropower exploitation in many provinces. In addition to the challenges of safety, efficiency, and social benefit-sharing, the environmental impact has become a tough challenge for the development of SHP in China. Based on successful experiences with green hydropower certification internationally [Bratrich et al., River Res. Appl. 20(7), 865–882 (2004); Low Impact Hydropower Certification Program (Low impact Hydropower Institute, New Jersey, USA, 1999); and Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (IHA, London, UK, 2010)], Green Small Hydropower [Yu et al., Water Power 33(7), 1–4 (2007)] (GSHP) certification has been proposed in China. The goal is to find the balance between river conservation and renewable energy production. With the introduction of the status quo and challenges of the development of SHP in China, practices of GSHP in China have been summarized, covering the transformation of development philosophy, GSHP assessment, policy improvement, and technical progress. Furthermore, this paper illustrates the major drivers of GSHP, which include the increasing awareness of environmental protection, change of supply and demand balance, and weak regulatory framework. Finally, this paper points out the priorities and suggestions for future work.