Hydroelectricity in China

[1] As of 2015, hydroelectric plants in China had a relatively low productivity with an average capacity factor of 31%, due to seasonal variability of rainfall, rapid construction, and significant energy loss due to need for long transmission lines to connect remote dams in the mountainous south-west to demand in southern China.

[1] Although hydroelectricity represents the largest renewable and low greenhouse gas emissions energy source in the country, the social and environmental impact of dam construction in China has been large, with millions of people forced to relocate and large scale damage to the environment.

Due to the subsequent period of political and social instability, little additional progress was made in power infrastructure in the country at that time.

During the Japanese occupation several large scale hydroelectric projects were built, and total capacity reached 900 MW.

[32] Installed hydroelectric capacity grew somewhat after the 1960s, with plants of growing size and complexity, reaching a total of 20 GW in 1980.