Geographies of (small) hydropower development in selected transnational basins of China (Yunnan and Xinjiang). A comparative analysis of the Water-Energy-Environment Nexus.
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Final Report Abstract
The aim of the DFG project was to study implications, interactions and trade-offs in the context of China's rapid hydropower development, especially of medium and small-scale projects (1-50MW) that have been scientifically insufficiently studied so far. The focus was on transnational basins and selected interactions within the water-energy-environment nexus. The project was divided into five sub-goals. Almost from the beginning, the study was seriously affected by the covid-pandemic, especially by stopping almost all field work in China (including further analyses). In consequence, the project design had to be rebalanced. The original sub-goal of a survey of existing hydropower plants in Yunnan and Xinjiang evolved, as the pandemic progressed, into the new aim of building a hitherto unprecedented database and geovisualization on global hydropower and dams, the WIHDR (World Index on Hydropower, Dams and Reservoirs). This WIHDR is worldwide unique and of great scientific as well as political and civil society interest. WIHDR’s strength is its systematic approach, comprehensive multiparametric data collection, and accurate location/georeferencing. By that approach, WIHDR differs from all other global databases on the topic, including GRanD, FhReD and GPPD, which determine the current global scientific discourse. In its basic version, WIHDR identified and recorded almost 9400 existing hydropower plants (≥10MW) worldwide, as well as another 500 plants under construction; almost a quarter of them are located in the PR China. All previous databases together, do not even show half of those objects. Furthermore, their given information are often wrong, esp. localization, attributes and even names. In contrast, WIHDR provides reliable and verified data, allowing for the first time global comparisons between regions (e.g. transnational basins or countries). In a second step, it was tested in selected model regions of Eurasia, to which extend the WIHDR can be systematically and reliably extended. These results proof that this is possible for (i) existing small hydropower plants (1-9.9MW); (ii) existing large dams based on ICOLD criteria (incl. large barriers for river detour or canal irrigation); and (iii) future hydropower plants (≥10MW) and related dams. In those test regions the number of identified objects improved substantially. The results impressively show that all current databases combined (as displayed in Global-DamWatch) cover only a small percentage of WIHDR’s objects; for Yunnan, it is merely 7.9%. WIHDR’s qualitatively and quantitatively strong and reliable data records are relevant for many current scientific and socio-political issues, e.g. fragmentation of rivers (vs free flowing), transnational water conflicts, aspects of water-energy-food nexus, GLOF/LLOF in the context of climate change, flow regulation, environmental protection (protected areas), China’s and other countries global dam activities, number of dam-displaced persons, etc.
Publications
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Shades of green energy: Geographies of small hydropower in Yunnan, China and the challenges of over-development. Global Environmental Change, 49, 116-128.
Hennig, Thomas & Harlan, Tyler
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Globaler Energiehunger. Dynamik des rasanten Wasserkraftausbaus in Südwestchina. In: Brühne T & S Harnischmacher (Hrsg), Diercke Concept Mapping: 135-151; Bildungshaus Westermann
Hennig T.
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Chinas Boom im Stromsektor: Zwischen Kohlestrom, Kernkraft und erneuerbaren Energien. In: Becker S, Klagge B, Naumann M (Hrsg): Energiegeographie: 333-344; UTB/Ulmer
Hennig T. & B. Klagge
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Glacial change and hydrological implications in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2(2), 91-106.
Nie, Yong; Pritchard, Hamish D.; Liu, Qiao; Hennig, Thomas; Wang, Wenling; Wang, Xiaoming; Liu, Shiyin; Nepal, Santosh; Samyn, Denis; Hewitt, Kenneth & Chen, Xiaoqing
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The Water-Energy Nexus of Southwest China’s Rapid Hydropower Development: Challenges and Trade-Offs in the Interaction Between Hydropower Generation and Utilisation. International Political Economy Series, 25-47. Springer International Publishing.
Hennig, Thomas & Magee, Darrin
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From mountains to megaregions: A powershed analysis of the Third Pole hydropower boom. Global Environmental Change, 73, 102483.
Harlan, Tyler & Hennig, Thomas
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Indien. Zwischen Reisfeld und Callcenter. Diercke Geographie: 502-507. Bildungshaus Westermann
Hennig T.
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Hydropower development in South Asia: Data challenges, new approaches, and implications for decision‐making. WIREs Water, 10(4).
Hennig, Thomas; Harlan, Tyler; Tilt, Bryan & Magee, Darrin
