my country’s electric energy is mainly composed of thermal power, hydropower, nuclear power and new energy. It is a coal-based, multi-energy complementary electric energy production system. my country’s coal consumption accounts for 27% of the world’s total, and its carbon dioxide emissions rank second in the world after the United States. It is one of the few large coal energy consumers in the world. In September 2015, the “Small Hydropower Ecological Role Science Forum” solemnly proposed that small hydropower is an important clean and renewable energy source. According to electric energy statistics, as of the end of 2014, my country’s small hydropower development rate was about 41%, far lower than the hydropower development level in developed countries in Europe and the United States. At present, the development level in Switzerland and France is 97%, Spain and Italy is 96%, Japan is 84%, and the United States is 73%.
(Source: WeChat public account “E Small Hydropower” ID: exshuidian Author: Ye Xingdi, member of the expert group of the International Small Hydropower Center and president of the Guizhou Private Hydropower Industry Chamber of Commerce)
At present, my country’s small hydropower installed capacity is about 100 million kilowatts, and the annual power generation is about 300 billion kilowatt-hours. If there is really no small hydropower, my country will rely more on fossil energy, which will inevitably cause huge losses to my country’s energy conservation, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reduction of environmental air pollution, improvement of the ecological environment, optimization of energy strategic layout, conservation of power transmission resources and reduction of power loss, assistance to poor mountainous areas to get rid of poverty, promotion of local economic development and promotion of the progress of small hydropower in the world.
1. If my country does not have small hydropower, it will lose the best renewable energy
In today’s efforts to cope with the energy crisis, environmental crisis and climate crisis, if there is no small hydropower, my country will lose the best renewable energy.
The International Clean Energy Development Report clearly states that the “Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Loads of Different Energy Generation Systems” has drawn the following scientific conclusions from the analysis of the complete cycle chain established by energy mining, transportation, power generation, and waste:
First, in the “Power Generation System Emission Pollution Output List”, hydropower has the best index (the lowest comprehensive pollutant emission index);
Second, in the “Impact of Different Energy Generation Systems on Human Health during the Life Cycle”, hydropower has the smallest impact (thermal power 49.71%, new energy 3.36%, hydropower 0.25%);
Third, in the “Impact of Different Energy Generation Systems on Ecosystem Quality during the Life Cycle”, hydropower has the smallest impact (thermal power 5.11%, new energy 0.55%, hydropower 0.07%);
Fourth, in the “Impact of Different Energy Generation Systems on Resource Consumption during the Life Cycle”, hydropower has the smallest impact (thIn the evaluation report, the various indicators of hydropower are not only far superior to traditional fossil energy and nuclear energy, but also far superior to various new energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy. Among hydropower, the various indicators of small hydropower are better than medium and large hydropower. Therefore, among all energy sources, small hydropower is currently the best energy.
2. If there is no small hydropower in my country, a large amount of coal resources and human resources will be wasted
According to statistics, during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the cumulative power generation of rural small hydropower exceeded 1 trillion kWh, which is equivalent to saving 320 million tons of standard coal, that is, an average annual power generation of more than 200 billion kWh, not only saving more than 64 million tons of standard coal per year, but also saving the energy required for the mining, transportation and storage of these coals, saving the energy required for the power generation, voltage rise and fall, and the manufacture, installation and operation of the transportation equipment of these coals, and saving the energy required for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the labor force involved in all the above activities. The comprehensive energy consumption saved is far greater than the average annual coal resources saved.
By the 13th Five-Year Plan, the annual power generation of small hydropower has increased to about 300 billion kilowatt-hours. If all energy consumption is taken into account, the annual comprehensive energy consumption saved is equivalent to about 100 million tons of standard coal. If there is no small hydropower, the “12th Five-Year Plan” and “13th Five-Year Plan” will consume nearly 900 million tons of standard coal, and the promise to the world that “by 2020, the proportion of non-fossil energy in my country’s primary energy consumption will reach about 15%” will become an empty talk.
3. If there is no small hydropower in my country, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution will increase significantly
According to the “2017 National Rural Hydropower Statistical Bulletin”, the annual power generation of rural hydropower in 2017 is equivalent to saving 76 million tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 190 million tons, and reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 1 million tons. Relevant data show that the pilot and expanded pilot work of small hydropower fuel substitution carried out from 2003 to 2008 enabled more than 800,000 farmers to achieve small hydropower fuel substitution and protect 3.5 million mu of forest area. It can be seen that small hydropower has significant ecological benefits and plays a huge role in reducing pollutant gas emissions and environmental pollution.
If there is no small hydropower, the 100 million kilowatts of electricity will be replaced by dozens of thermal power plants or nuclear power plants with installed capacity of several million kilowatts. The nuclear fission process of nuclear power plants is accompanied by the production of radioactive nuclides, and there are risks and consequences of large-scale release to the environment. There are also problems such as shortage of nuclear raw materials, nuclear waste, and the disposal of scrapped power plants after the end of their life. Due to the burning of a large amount of coal, thermal power will emit a large amount of SO2, NOx, dust, wastewater, and waste residue, acid rain will be seriously increased, water resources will be seriously consumed, and the human living environment will be greatly threatened.
Fourth, if there is no small hydropower in my country, it will increase infrastructure investment, weaken the ability of electric energy to resist war and natural disasters, and increase the harm of large-scale power outages.
Small hydropower is the most mature and effective distributed energy. It is very close to the load, that is, the end of the power grid. It does not need to build a large power grid for long-distance high-voltage or ultra-high-voltage transmission. It can greatly reduce line losses, save power transmission and distribution construction investment and operating costs, and achieve a higher comprehensive energy utilization rate.
If there is no small hydropower, traditional energy generation will inevitably replace the nearly 100 million kilowatts of small hydropower generation distributed at the end of more than 47,000 users across the country. It is also necessary to build numerous matching step-up and step-down substations and transmission and distribution lines of different voltage levels, which will cause huge land consumption, resource consumption, energy consumption, manpower consumption, transmission and transformation losses, and investment waste.
When encountering technical failures, natural disasters, human wars and other factors, large power grids are often very fragile and large-scale power outages may occur at any time. At this time, distributed small hydropower can form countless independent power grids, which have incomparable elasticity and resilience than large power grids and ultra-high voltage, and have better safety and reliability. It can maximize the realization of decentralized sustainable power supply, which is of great strategic significance.
In the 2008 snow and ice disasters and the Wenchuan and Yushu earthquakes, the emergency power supply capacity of small hydropower was outstanding, becoming the “last match” to light up the regional power grid. Those cities and villages that have been cut off from the big power grid and plunged into darkness all rely on small hydropower to maintain power supply and support anti-ice and earthquake disaster relief, proving that rural small hydropower plays an irreplaceable role in responding to natural disasters, war threats and other emergencies.
5. If there is no small hydropower in my country, it will have a major impact on local ecology, flood prevention and disaster reduction, and social economy, and increase the difficulty of poverty alleviation in poor mountainous areas.
Small hydropower is “scattered” all over the country with the characteristics of “many, small, and flexible”. Most of them are built in poor mountainous areas, in the upper reaches of rivers with steep riverbeds and turbulent rivers. The energy storage of their reservoirs and the energy consumption of power generation can greatly reduce the flow rate of small and medium-sized rivers, reduce the scouring of river water on both sides, and improve the flood storage capacity, which well protects the ecology on both sides and reduces flood disasters on both sides of the river. For example, the Panxi small watershed in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province has a catchment area of 97 square kilometers. Due to the steep slope and rapid flow, mudslides and floods and droughts occur from time to time. Since the 1970s, after the construction of the seven Panxi cascade hydropower stations, which are well-known both at home and abroad, soil and water conservation has been effectively achieved, and the disasters in the river small watershed have been significantly reduced.
Especially in the new century, small hydropower has gradually shifted from mainly solving the problem of no electricity in mountainous rural areas to improving the level of rural electrification, accelerating the pace of poverty alleviation in poor areas, driving the economic and social development of mountainous rural areas, actively protecting the ecological environment, and promoting energy conservation and emission reduction. An ecological cycle model of forest water storage, water power generation, and electricity forest maintenance has gradually been formed, effectively protecting local forest resources from being destroyed. The United Nations and the vast number of developing countries highly value the great role of my country’s small hydropower in solving rural poverty problems. It is known as the “night pearl”, “little sun” and “the benevolent project that ignites the hope of the mountains” in mountainous areas. Mountainous industries are generally very backward. Small hydropower can effectively solve the employment problems of local villagers. Combined with the national “small hydropower precision poverty alleviation” policy, many villagers have become small shareholders. Small hydropower is of great significance to poverty alleviation and prosperity in mountainous areas. After a county in Anhui Province forced the closure of some power stations in 2017, many unemployed villagers wept, some farmers returned to poverty overnight, and some even fell into despair and their families declined.
6. If there is no small hydropower in my country, the image of my country leading and promoting the development of small hydropower in the world will be seriously damaged.
Historically, China’s achievements and experience in small hydropower development have been highly praised and widely praised by the international community. In order to make my country’s experience in small hydropower development have a significant reference effect on countries around the world, especially developing countries, the United Nations International Small Hydropower Organization has set up its headquarters, the International Small Hydropower Center, in Hangzhou, China.
Since its establishment, the International Small Hydropower Center has actively transferred China’s mature experience and technology to developing countries, promoted the level of small hydropower development and capacity building in these countries, greatly promoted China’s international cooperation and exchanges in small hydropower, and made positive contributions to improving the living standards of local community residents, developing production and protecting the ecological environment, and has had a wide range of international influence. However, at a time of overproduction of electricity, some departments and local governments have not scientifically adjusted the high-energy-consuming and high-polluting traditional energy, but have used environmental protection as an excuse to discredit, suppress, and even arbitrarily dispose of and shut down small hydropower, which has had a huge impact on the survival and development of small hydropower, and seriously damaged the international image of my country’s vigorous development of hydropower and the development of renewable energy.
In summary, small hydropower is the most efficient, cleanest and greenest renewable energy both at home and abroad; it is a loyal practitioner of General Secretary Xi’s idea that “green waters and green mountains are gold and silver mountains”; it is truly transforming green waters and green mountains into gold and silver mountains that save resources, protect the environment, get rid of poverty and become rich, and promote economic development; it is the “guardian” of the ecological environment! Small hydropower plays a huge role in reducing the damage to the ecological environment caused by the development and utilization of traditional energy resources, especially reducing the impact of traditional energy on human beings themselves and rare animals and plants. The benefits of small hydropower construction far outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore, international organizations such as the United Nations have repeatedly called for “hydropower development to play an irreplaceable role in the sustainable development of the world”, and the international community is actively exploring and promoting the sustainable development of hydropower. In short, the important role and strategic significance of small hydropower are very huge, which is incomparable and irreplaceable to any other form of energy.
Today, my country cannot do without small hydropower, and today’s world cannot do without small hydropower!
Post time: Jan-22-2025
