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20/09/2013

The politics of Chinese dam-building: Opening the floodgates

The Economist: “CHINA has many good reasons not to build the $5.2 billion Xiaonanhai dam on the Yangzi river in Chongqing. The site, on a gentle slope that moves water along only slowly, is not ideal for generating hydropower. The fertile soil makes it one of China’s most productive regions, so it is densely populated with farmers reaping good harvests. And the dam (see map), which would produce only 10% of the electricity of the Three Gorges project downstream, could destroy a rare fish preserve, threatening several endangered species including the Yangzi sturgeon.

Yet it does not matter how strong the case may be against Xiaonanhai, because the battle against a hydropower scheme in China is usually lost before it is fought. The political economy of dam-building is rigged. Though the Chinese authorities have made much progress in evaluating the social and environmental impact of dams, the emphasis is still on building them, even when mitigating the damage would be hard. Critics have called it the “hydro-industrial complex”: China has armies of water engineers (including Hu Jintao, the former president) and at least 300 gigawatts of untapped hydroelectric potential. China’s total generating capacity in 2012 was 1,145GW, of which 758GW came from coal-burning plants.

An important motive for China to pursue hydropower is, ironically, the environment. China desperately needs to expand its energy supply while reducing its dependence on carbon-based fuels, especially coal. The government wants 15% of power consumption to come from clean or renewable sources by 2020, up from 9% now. Hydropower is essential for achieving that goal, as is nuclear power. “Hydro, including large hydro in China, is seen as green,” says Darrin Magee, an expert on Chinese dams at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York state.

There is also a political reason why large hydro schemes continue to go ahead. Dambuilders and local governments have almost unlimited power to plan and approve projects, whereas environmental officials have almost no power to stop them.”

via The politics of dam-building: Opening the floodgates | The Economist.

China’s Factory Owners Hunt for Energy Savings

BusinessWeek: “Kevin Chang, general manager of Concord Ceramics, is a member of a younger generation of factory bosses in China trying to survive leaner times. That quest led him to examine the power use at his factories. He didn’t like what he found.

A worker at a textile factory in Huaibei, China, on Apr. 10

For decades after China started trading with the U.S. in 1979, most factory managers didn’t focus on electricity prices. Demand from abroad was expanding, labor was cheap, and the exchange rate favored China’s exporters. But conditions have changed since demand softened in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Chang says his labor costs have doubled, and the exchange rate is less favorable. Increasing energy efficiency is one way to shore up the bottom line.

The work at Concord requires constant air conditioning, and in the summer electricity has accounted for as much as 15 percent of operating costs. Chang, who was already leaving the hallway lights off, installed a high-volume air-conditioning system to cut expenses. Yet once the system was up and running, his electricity bill went up. Chang hired an engineer from the China Academy of Building Research, a government think tank, in Guangzhou. The engineer figured out the cooling system was more powerful than the factory needed, so the air conditioning constantly cycled between maximum cooling and powering down, wasting energy. The solution, conceived a few weeks ago, was to run just half of the unit. Now the air remains at a steady temperature, and Chang says he should save about 40 percent on electricity bills: “A lot of things can be made more efficient.”

via China’s Factory Owners Hunt for Energy Savings – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Electricity, energy, Manufacturing | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, electricity bill, Factory, Guangzhou, Wage

18/05/2013

* China gives environmental approval to country’s biggest hydro dam

Reuters: “China’s environment ministry has given the go-ahead for the construction of what will become the country’s tallest hydroelectric dam despite acknowledging it will have an impact on plants and rare fish.

Dadu River, China

The dam, with a height of 314 meters (1,030 feet), will serve the Shuangjiangkou hydropower project on the Dadu River in southwestern Sichuan province.

To be built over 10 years by a subsidiary of state power firm Guodian Group, it is expected to cost 24.68 billion yuan ($4.02 billion) in investment.

The ministry, in a statement issued late on Tuesday, said an environmental impact assessment had acknowledged that the project would have a negative impact on rare fish and flora and affect protected local nature reserves.

Developers, it said, had pledged to take “counter-measures” to mitigate the effects. The project still requires the formal go-ahead from the State Council, China’s cabinet.

China aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2020, up from 9.4 percent in 2011. Hydropower is expected to make the biggest contribution.

It has vowed to speed up construction of dams in the 2011-2015 period after slowing it down following the completion of the controversial Three Gorges project in 2006.

The Three Gorges Dam, which serves the world’s biggest hydropower station on the Yangtze river, measures 185 meters.

The 300-m Nurek dam in Tajikistan in Central Asia is the world’s highest, though other taller dams are now under construction. China’s tallest dam now, at 292 meters, is the Xiaowan Dam on the Lancang River, also known as the Mekong.

On completion, the Sichuan project will have a total installed capacity of 20 gigawatts (GW), with annual power generation to exceed 7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh).

The government said this year that hydropower capacity was expected to reach 290 GW by 2015, up from 220 GW at the end of 2010. It also said it would begin building a controversial project on the undeveloped Nu River in Yunnan province.

Guodian was one of a number of state-owned firms criticized by China’s national audit office last week for starting work on projects not yet been approved by the central government. The office said by the end of 2011, the company had invested nearly 30 billion yuan in 21 unapproved projects.

The Huaneng Group, China’s biggest power company, was also criticized for launching construction of the Huangdeng hydropower plant before receiving the government’s go-ahead.”

via China gives environmental approval to country’s biggest hydro dam | Reuters.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, Electricity | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, Dadu River, Sichuan, Three Gorges Dam

06/05/2013

* Indian Supreme Court gives nod to Kudankulam nuclear plant, says it is safe

Thank goodness. India needs all the power it can generate.

Times of India: “In a relief for the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court on Monday approved the commissioning of the controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant.

English: Construction site of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Deutsch: Baustelle des Kernkraftwerks Kudankulam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kudankulam plant is safe and secure and it is necessary for larger public interest and economic growth of the country, the SC said.

“Nuclear power plants are needed in the country for the present and future generations,” observed the apex bench.

The apex court said that the Kudankulam N-plant has been set up by the government for the welfare of the people.

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, which had reserved the verdict following marathon arguments in the last three months, delivered the judgement.

A batch of petitions was filed by anti-nuclear activists challenging the project on the ground that safety measures recommended for the plant by an expert body have not been put in place.

They also raised various questions pertaining to the disposal of nuclear waste, the plant’s impact on the environment and the safety of people living nearby, besides other issues linked to the controversial plant.

The Centre, Tamil Nadu government and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which operates the plant, had refuted all the allegations on safety and security aspects.

They had submitted that the plant is completely safe and can withstand any kind of natural disaster and external terrorist attack.”

via SC gives nod to Kudankulam nuclear plant, says it is safe – The Times of India.

Posted in Construction, Economics, Electricity, energy, Good news, greenhouse gas, India alert, Infrastructure | Leave a Comment »

Tags: environment, India, Koodankulam, Kudankulam, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, nuclear power plant, politics, science, Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu government

05/05/2013

* Plans to Harness China’s Nu River Threaten a Region

NY Times: “From its crystalline beginnings as a rivulet seeping from a glacier on the Tibetan Himalayas to its broad, muddy amble through the jungles of Myanmar, the Nu River is one of Asia’s wildest waterways, its 1,700-mile course unimpeded as it rolls toward the Andaman Sea.

The Nu River at Bingzhongluo, China. The government stunned environmentalists by reviving plans to build dams on the river. More Photos »

But the Nu’s days as one of the region’s last free-flowing rivers are dwindling. The Chinese government stunned environmentalists this year by reviving plans to build a series of hydropower dams on the upper reaches of the Nu, the heart of a Unesco World Heritage site in China’s southwest Yunnan Province that ranks among the world’s most ecologically diverse and fragile places.

Critics say the project will force the relocation of tens of thousands of ethnic minorities in the highlands of Yunnan and destroy the spawning grounds for a score of endangered fish species. Geologists warn that constructing the dams in a seismically active region could threaten those living downstream. Next month, Unesco is scheduled to discuss whether to include the area on its list of endangered places.

Among the biggest losers could be the millions of farmers and fishermen across the border in Myanmar and Thailand who depend on the Salween, as the river is called in Southeast Asia, for their sustenance. “We’re talking about a cascade of dams that will fundamentally alter the ecosystems and resources for downstream communities that depend on the river,” said Katy Yan, China program coordinator at International Rivers, an advocacy group.

Suspended in 2004 by Wen Jiabao, then the prime minister, and officially resuscitated shortly before his retirement in March, the project is increasing long-simmering regional tensions over Beijing’s plans to dam or divert a number of rivers that flow from China to other thirsty nations in its quest to bolster economic growth and reduce the country’s dependency on coal.

According to its latest energy plan, the government aims to begin construction on about three dozen hydroelectric projects across the country, which together will have more than twice the hydropower capacity of the United States.

via Plans to Harness China’s Nu River Threaten a Region – NYTimes.com.

Member of the National Committee of CPPCC urges hydro development on the Nu River (journal.probeinternational.org)
China-backed dams escalating ethnic tension in Myanmar (eco-business.com)
Karen Communities Demand Halt to Salween River Dams (irrawaddy.org)
Bring China in on a rule-based Asian regional water order (dailystar.com.lb)
China’s great water wall (washingtontimes.com)
What happens when Asia’s ‘water tower’ dries up (eenews.net)

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Electricity, energy, water scarcity | 1 Comment »

Tags: Asia, Burma, China, environment, Salween River, unesco world heritage, unesco world heritage site, Yunnan

25/04/2013

* China moves cautiously ahead on nuclear energy

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “From 2005 to 2011, China rapidly developed its nuclear power capacity. In 2010 alone, it began operations at two new reactors and broke ground on 10 more, accounting for more than 60 percent of new reactor construction worldwide and making the Chinese nuclear industry by far the fastest-growing in the world. By the end of 2010, China had 14 nuclear reactors in operation with a total capacity of about 11 gigawatts electric, or GWe. That was still a relatively small amount — in contrast, the United States had 104 commercial reactors with a total capacity of about 100 GWe in 2010 — but China was pursuing ambitious plans to rapidly expand.

China Nuclear Energy

Then came the tsunami and earthquake that led to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March 2011, the world’s worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. After Fukushima, China changed course dramatically, slowing the pace of nuclear development to focus on safety. The slower pace is reassuring, but to really be a leader on nuclear safety, China should speed up the adoption of new laws on nuclear energy and enhance the independence and authority of nuclear safety regulators.

Putting the Brakes On. According to a government plan issued in 2007, China planned to install a total nuclear capacity of 40 GWe by 2020, which would account for about 3 percent of electricity generation nationwide. Many officials and experts expected that the number would actually increase further, to more than 80 GWe.

In its initial, March 2011 reaction to Fukushima, though, China’s State Council, the nation’s governing body, decided to suspend approval of new nuclear power stations, conduct comprehensive safety inspections of existing plants, and review all nuclear projects including those under construction. In October 2012, after concluding the inspections and reviews, the State Council issued a new plan that represents a serious and cautious reevaluation of safety issues and the pace of development. Called the Medium- and Long-term Nuclear Power Development Plan (2011-2020), its proposals include:

A return to normal construction at a controlled and orderly pace.

Permission for a limited number of new nuclear power reactors to be built in coastal sites that have been comprehensively evaluated.

A ban on new inland nuclear power projects, because the government fears a shortage of cooling water should accidents occur at such plants.

A requirement that all new projects meet the safety standards of the world’s most advanced nuclear reactors, known as third generation or Gen III reactors. Compared to earlier technology, these new designs incorporate improved fuel technology, superior thermal efficiency, passive rather than active safety systems, and standardized designs aimed at reducing maintenance and capital costs.

Based on the new plan, China will only approve a few new reactor construction projects before 2016. China now expects to grow its total nuclear capacity to 58 GWe by 2020, rather than the more than 80 GWe previously expected.

The government resumed approval of new nuclear power projects in December 2012, just as the new plan was issued. Several inland nuclear power projects where significant preparation work had already begun will be suspended, with some of their equipment likely transferred to coastal sites. While the pace of Chinese nuclear development will slow in the near term, the country’s long-term goals haven’t changed significantly. China continues to emphasize nuclear power as a crucial part of its energy mix. A government white paper issued in October 2012 observed that “as nuclear power is a high-quality, clean, and efficient modern energy resource, its development is of great importance for optimizing the nation’s energy structure and ensuring national energy security.” The white paper put China’s nuclear energy target at 40 GWe by 2015.”

via China moves cautiously ahead on nuclear energy | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Economics, Electricity, energy, Green | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Chernobyl disaster, China, environment, Nuclear power, Nuclear reactor, State Council of the People's Republic of China

06/01/2013

* China building nuclear power plant with fourth-generation features

Xinhua: “China has broken ground on a 3 billion-yuan (476 million-U.S. dollar) nuclear power project that will be the first in the world to put a reactor with fourth-generation features into commercial use, a Chinese energy company said Sunday.

It also marks China’s latest move to speed up nuclear power development, which came to a halt after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan in 2011.

Construction of the project at Shidao Bay in the coastal city of Rongcheng, east China’s Shandong Province, began last month, Xinhua learned from Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (HSNPC), the builder and operator of the plant.

With a designed capacity of 200 megawatts and “the characteristics of fourth-generation nuclear energy systems,” the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor will start generating power by the end of 2017, the HSNPC said in a statement sent to Xinhua via email.

Independently developed by China’s Tsinghua University, the reactor has the features of “inherent safety” and “passive nuclear safety” in line with the fourth-generation concept, meaning it can shut down safely in the event of an emergency without causing a reactor core meltdown or massive leakage of radioactive material, according to the statement.

The reactor can have an outlet temperature of 750 degrees Celsius, compared with 1,000 degrees Celsius that can be reached by the very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, an internationally-accepted fourth-generation reactor concept.

It can also raise electricity generation efficiency to around 40 percent from the current 30-percent level of second- and third-generation reactors, said the statement.

If it is commercially successful, the reactor’s technology and equipment can be exported to other countries in the future, said an HSNPC public relations officer who declined to be named.

“That will be a great boost to China’s nuclear industry, as a very high percentage of the equipment is produced domestically instead of being imported,” the official told Xinhua by telephone.

The project is part of the HSNPC’s broader plan to build a 6.6-gigawatt (GW) nuclear power plant that will require approximately 100 billion yuan in investment over 20 years. If completed, it would be China’s largest nuclear power plant, said the official.

The rest of the plan includes four 1.25-GW AP1000 pressurized water reactors and a 1.4-GW CAP1400 pressurized water reactor.

via China building nuclear power plant with fourth-generation features – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Electricity, Environment, Infrastructure, innovation, Science, Technology | 2 Comments »

Tags: China, Nuclear power, Shandong, Shidao Bay, Tsinghua University, Very high temperature reactor

22/12/2012

* TATAY RIVER, Cambodia: China is top dam builder, going where others won’t

Miami Herald: “Up a sweeping jungle valley in a remote corner of Cambodia, Chinese engineers and workers are raising a 100-meter- (330-foot-) high dam over the protests of villagers and activists. Only Chinese companies are willing to tame the Tatay and other rivers of Koh Kong province, one of Southeast Asia’s last great wilderness areas.

It’s a scenario that is hardly unique. China’s giant state enterprises and banks have completed, are working on or are proposing some 300 dams from Algeria to Myanmar.

Poor countries contend the dams are crucial to bringing electricity to tens of millions who live without it and boosting living standards. Environmental activists and other opponents counter that China, the world’s No. 1 dam builder, is willing and able to go where most Western companies, the World Bank and others won’t tread any more because of environmental, social, political or financing concerns.

“China is the one financier able to provide money for projects that don’t meet international standards,” said Ian Baird, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin who has worked in Southeast Asia for decades. “You go to China if you want to have them financed.”

The consequence, critics say, is a rollback to an era of ill-conceived, destructive mega-dams that many thought had passed. The most recent trend is to dam entire rivers with a cascade of barriers, as China’s state-owned Sinohydro has proposed on Colombia’s Magdalene River and the Nam Ou in Laos, where contracts for seven dams have been signed.

Viewed by some in the developing world as essential icons of progress, dams in countries as far apart as Ecuador, Myanmar and Zambia have spearheaded or reinforced China’s rising economic might around the world. They are tied to or put up in tandem with other infrastructure projects and businesses, and power generation equipment ranks as China’s second-largest export earner after electrical machinery and equipment.

In energy-starved Cambodia, trade with China has risen to 19 percent of GDP from 10 percent five years ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of International Monetary Fund data.

The year-old $280 million Kamchay Dam in Cambodia’s Kampot province was the largest ever foreign investment when approved as well as a political flag-carrier for Beijing. It has been hailed by both governments as a “symbol of close Chinese-Cambodian ties.”

Cambodia’s electricity demand grew more than 16 percent a year from 2002 to 2011, with shortfalls largely met through costly oil imports, said Bun Narith, a deputy director general in the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy. Only 14 percent of rural homes have electricity, one of the lowest levels in Southeast Asia.

“We have no choice,” Bun Narith said. “Hydropower is the priority, and the Chinese have the initiative and capability, both financial and technical.”

The 20 hydro dams built, being constructed or under study in Cambodia, the bulk of them by the Chinese, would lift Cambodia out of literal darkness and make it energy self-sufficient, he said. “We should have a win-win policy, a balance between environment and energy. After all, electricity is also a basic human need.””

via TATAY RIVER, Cambodia: China is top dam builder, going where others won’t – World Wires – MiamiHerald.com.

Questions over China dams (eco-business.com)
Government Defends Chinese Dams (cambodiadaily.com)
Civil engineer to the world

Posted in China alert, Construction, Economics, Electricity, exports, GeoPolitics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Cambodia, China, environment, mega dams, power generation equipment, science, Southeast Asia, World Bank

07/11/2012

* India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal

BBC: “India and Canada have finalised the terms for their nuclear deal, paving the way for Canadian firms to export uranium to India.

Electricity cable in India

Once implemented, the deal is likely to provide a boost to India’s plans to increase its nuclear capacity to meet growing energy demands.

The deal was agreed in 2010, but there had been differences over supervision of the use of uranium in India.

Canada has banned the trade of nuclear materials with India since 1976.

“Canada with its large and high quality reserves of uranium could become an important supplier to the Indian nuclear power programme,” India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper said in a joint statement.

‘Important economic opportunity’

India’s economy has seen rapid expansion in recent years resulting in a surge in demand for energy in the country.

In a bid to meet its growing energy needs, India has been looking to increase its dependence on nuclear energy.

It is planning to set up some 30 reactors over as many years and get a quarter of its electricity from nuclear energy by 2050.

As a result it has been looking to secure supplies of uranium to achieve that target.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that being able to be a part of India’s nuclear power plans was “a really important economic opportunity for an important Canadian industry… that should pay dividends in terms of jobs and growth for Canadians down the road”.

Earlier this month, India agreed to begin negotiations on a civil nuclear co-operation agreement with Australia, which holds an estimated 40% of the world’s uranium.

Last year, it agreed a deal that will allow South Korea to export its nuclear energy technology to India.”

via BBC News – India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal.

Tags: canada, India, manmohan singh, nuclear energy technology, Nuclear power, prime minister manmohan singh, South Korea, Stephen Harper, Uranium

28/10/2012

* Will ensure proper electricity supply: Power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

Will the new minister be able to deliver? We shall see.

Times of India: “Newly appointed power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today said that his priorities will be to ensure proper electricity supply in the country.

Scindia, a young Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh, has been appointed as minister of state (independent charge) for power.

“Priorities will be to ensure that there is proper electric supply. Both the government and private electric companies work in tandem for the united goal of country’s progress,” Scindia told PTI.

He takes over the reins of the Power Ministry at a time when the sector is grappling with acute fuel shortages besides environmental hurdles, which are also hurting electricity generation in the country.

“I will also try to ensure coordination with coal and environment ministries,” Scindia said.

“As the UPA government vision, I will try to make sure that the remote areas of the country gets power supply. I will try to ensure growth in the sector,” he noted.

via Will ensure proper electricity supply: Power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia – The Times of India.

Posted in Economics, Electricity, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Electricity generation, India, Madhya Pradesh, Mains electricity, Minister of State, politics, Power supply, Scindia

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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