Development and present situation of hydropower in China

Abstract As a clean and renewable energy, hydropower holds an important place in energy development for every country. China has the richest hydropower resources with 541 GW technical exportable installed capacity, a 17% global share. Hydropower is a key point of energy conservation and comprehensive utilization of resources to ensure the sustainable development strategy of China. This paper investigates the hydropower development of China and provides a summary of the current situation of the development. Over the past 100 years, China's hydropower developed tremendously. The total installed capacity of hydropower is 341.19 GW by the end of 2017 and the installed capacity of small hydropower is 79.27 GW. By the end of June 2018, 33 pumped-storage power stations had been constructed and 32 are under construction. The total installed capacity of pumped-storage power is 72.64 GW. More development will be achieved in the next decades according to China's development strategy.