page_title: Renewable energy in China
section_title: Hydropower
hierarchical_section_title: Renewable energy in China / Sources / Hydropower
caption_attribution_description: English: The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, China.
context_page_description: China is the world's leading country in electricity production from renewable energy sources, with over double the generation of the second-ranking country, the United States.
  By the end of 2018, the country had a total capacity of 728 GW of renewable power, mainly from hydroelectric and wind power.
  China's renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuels and nuclear power capacity.
  Although China currently has the world's largest installed capacity of hydro, solar and wind power, its energy needs are so large that in 2015 renewable sources provided only 24% of its electricity generation, with most of the remainder provided by coal power plants.
  In 2017, renewable energy comprised 36.6% of China's total installed electric power capacity, and 26.4% of total power generation, the vast majority from hydroelectric sources.
  Nevertheless, the share of renewable sources in the energy mix had been gradually rising in recent years.
  China sees renewables as a source of energy security and not just only to reduce carbon emission.
context_section_description: On 6 April 2007, the Gansu Dang River Hydropower Project was registered as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in accordance with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The project consists of the construction and operation of eight run-of-river hydropower plants providing total capacity of 35.4 GW, which will generate an average of 224 GWh/year. The project is located in Dang Town, Subei Mongolian Autonomous County, Gansu Province, China, and was certified by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to be in compliance with the "Measures for the Operation and Management of Clean Development Mechanism Projects in China". The power generated by the project will be sold to the Gansu power grid which is part of the China Northwest Regional Power Grid (NWPG). This will displace equivalent amounts of electricity generated by the current mix of power sold to the NWPG. The developer of the Gansu Dang River Hydropower Project, which started construction on 1 November 2004, is the Jiayuguan City Tongyuan Hydropower Co., Ltd. The Letter of Approval of the NDRC permits the Jiayuguan City Tongyuan Hydropower Co. Ltd. to transfer to Japan Carbon Finance, Ltd., an entity approved by the government of Japan no more than 1.2 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions in total Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) over the seven-year period beginning on 1 May 2007, and ending on 30 April 2014.
  In 2006 there were 10 GW of installed hydropower capacity that went into operation in China. The National Development and Reform Commission also approved thirteen additional hydropower projects in 2006, which cumulatively will have 19.5 GW of power generating capacity. New hydropower projects that were approved and began construction in 2006 include the Jinsha River Xiangjiaba Dam (6000 MW), the Yalong River (Second Phase) (4800 MW), the Lancang River's Jinghong Dam (1750 MW), the Beipan River(1040 MW), and the Wu River's Silin Dam (1080 MW). In 2005 the following hydroelectric power projects were approved by the NDRC and began construction: the Jinsha River's Xiluo Crossing (12600 MW), the Yellow River's Laxiwa Dam (4200 MW), and the Yalong River (First Phase) (3600 MW).
caption: Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric power plant in Hubei province, China
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