WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

3.2.1 China
Heng Liu, Xiaobo Hu and Kai Whiting, International
Center on Small Hydro Power
Key facts
Population 1,343,239,923 1
Area 9.6 million km 2
Climate Extremely diverse; tropical in the south
to subarctic in the north
Topography Mostly mountains, high plateaus,
deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills
Rain
pattern
in east
Given the country’s vastness, many
degrees latitude and complex terrain, it
has a variety of precipitation levels
including continental monsoon areas.
Annual mean range is high from zero
mm in the deserts to 1,500 mm on the
East coast. The highest level of rain is in
the summer for most areas.
Electricity sector overview
Imported 0.1%
Wind 1.6%
Nuclear 1.9%
Hydropo 14%
Thermal
82.5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Figure 1 Electricity generation in China
Source: China Electricity Bulletin 2
Note: Data from 2011.
By 2010, the total electricity installed capacity in China
reached 970 GW, ranking second in the world. Of the
installed capacity, 710 GW are thermal power and 220
GW hydropower, it is the country with the largest
installed hydropower capacity. 3
In the next 20-30 years, hydropower will remain the
second most important component in China’s energy
mix, after coal. It is estimated that China’s
hydropower installed capacity will reach 400 GW by
2030 and 450-500 GW by 2050. 4
Rural electrification in China has increased from 94.5
per cent at the county level, 86.83 per cent at
township level and 61.05 per cent at the village level
in 1978 to 100 per cent, 99.68 per cent and 99.74 per
cent, respectively in 2008. 5
Small hydropower sector overview and potential
In China, small hydropower refers to capacities of up
to 50 MW (table 1).
Table 1
Classification of small hydropower in China
(Megawatts)
Definition
Installed capacity
Small
≤50
Mini
≤2
Micro ≤0.1
Thanks to the 1,500 rivers with each a drainage area
of over 1,000 km 2 and China’s technological maturity,
the small hydropower potential of the country is
significant. Small hydropower is an abundant resource
in China, widely distributed in more than 1,700
counties in over 30 provinces, regions and
municipalities – principally in the Western regions and
mainly among remote mountainous areas, minority
groups’ territories and revolutionary sites. Featuring
vast areas, sparse populations and decentralized
energy demand, these regions can neither be served
by the state grid nor are appropriate for long distance
power-supply to the grid. Because of the development
of small hydropower, more than 300 million people in
one third of all the counties, and covering half of all
the territories in China, have access to electric power.
A total small hydropower potential of 128 GW (using
the country’s definition of 50 MW), China is ranked as
the first in the world’s small hydropower potential
(figure 2). To date about 40 per cent of China’s small
hydropower resources have been developed.
However, approximately 62.3 GW of small
hydropower potential remains under developed. From
2000 to 2009, 30,271 MW of rural hydropower plants
were added, with an average annual growth rate of
13.53 per cent that represented an energy generation
of 767,200 GWh (average annual growth rate of 10.66
per cent). By 2012, the country had approximately
45,799 small hydropower stations with a total
installed capacity of about 65.68 GW and an annual
output of over 217,300 GWh. 6
Over the past decades, the development, investment
and asset management of Chinese small hydropower
have changed. During the pre-1990 period, the
Chinese small hydropower plants were mainly funded
by the central and local governments. After late
1990s, due to a rapid development of the Chinese
economy, the gap between power supply and demand
has dramatically intensified and has caused power
supply shortages in most provinces. During this
period, the Chinese investment system started to be
reformed through a combination of government
guidance and market mechanisms. A variety of
economic entities were encouraged to invest in and
develop small hydropower, with the hope of
narrowing the gap between power supply and
demand and the shortfall in government funds (table
2).
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