In view of this, the United States has incorporated hydropower in many targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) published in September 2015. In particular, hydropower development avoids greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of thermal power generation. This helps alleviate the plague associated with flood, drought, electricity shortage, and water environmental degradation. In fact, in addition to storing water for power generation, dams can alter natural runoff through reservoir regulation to render functions such as water supply from upstream reservoirs, downstream navigation, and river ecological flow maintenance. It ranks the world’s first with a share of more than 40%.

China embraces 23,841 large dams, the most among all countries and more than the combined of the following United States (9263), India (4407), and Japan (3130). According to this definition, there were 58,713 large dams worldwide in 2020. A large dam is defined by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) as any dam above 15 m in height (measured from the lowest point of foundation to top of dam) or any dam between 10 m and 15 m in height impounding more than 3 million m 3. Major contributors to the added installed capacity are China, Laos, Pakistan in Asia, Brazil in South America, Angola, Uganda, and Ethiopia in Africa, and Turkey in Europe.ĭam is the principal structure for hydropower generation, so the number of dams speaks for the activity level of hydropower development in a country. Among them, East Asia and the Pacific have the most hydropower generation, accounting for 37.6% of the global total. The global hydropower generation accounts for 16% of the total global power generation, which is lower than coal-fired power generation and gas-fired power generation, ranking third in the world. By the end of 2020, the total installed hydropower capacity in the world has reached 1330 GW, and the installed hydropower capacity in 2020 will increase by 1.6%. There has been an evidently rapid increase in the pace and rate of hydropower development and utilization in the recent four decades, especially since the mid-1980s. In developing countries, the process of water resource development was slow in the past with a low degree of hydropower development due to political, economic, and other reasons. The utilization rate of hydropower resources in developed countries such as France and Switzerland already hit 97% in the late 1980s. Hydropower development has thus emerged as a priority option in most developed countries.

Hydropower is a clean and renewable energy source among conventional energy sources and has the advantages of low operating cost, simple electromechanical equipment, and operational flexibility. New technologies and new concepts are expected to continue to lead the world’s hydropower development trends. China is currently actively promoting the “integration of wind, solar, hydro, and coal power generation and energy storage” and building a smart grid of multi-energy complementary power generation. This paper reviews China’s progress in the context of global hydropower development and examines the role of technological advance in supporting China’s hydropower projects, especially dam construction technology. At present, China contributes to 25% of global installed hydropower capacity, ranking first in the world for 20 consecutive years since 2001 and surpassing the combined of the 4 countries ranking second to fifth. With the support of advanced dam construction technology, the Chinese installed capacity keeps rising rapid growth, hitting around 356 GW nationwide by the end of 2019, and the annual electricity production exceeds 10,000 TWh. It has been over 110 years since China’s first hydropower station, Shilongba Hydropower Station, was built in 1910.

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