Operation challenges for fast-growing China's hydropower systems and respondence to energy saving and emission reduction

During the past two decades, in particular the past decade, there has been a rapid rate of development of hydropower in China. It is foreseeable that the same rate of development will be maintained in the next decade. The total installed generation capacity of hydropower in China has now surpassed 200 GW and ranks first in the world. The unprecedented rate of expansion, development scale, emergence of large number of hydro plants with high head and huge capacity, and electric power transmission have led to significant changes in management and operation of large-scale hydropower systems which have become one of the significant factors in constraining the security and economic operation of power grid in China. This article gives an overview of the China's hydropower, analyses the new challenges that it faces, highlights the key scientific and technological issues that need to be solved, and pinpoints that the solution of these problems will be the key to the realization of energy saving and emission reduction by China in 2020. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.