The province of Sichuan in south-western China has decided to limit the construction of new hydropower plants over the 2016-2020 period, banning small-scale hydro development and severely restricting medium-sized power projects. Approval powers of local authorities will also be limited to avoid the development of new hydropower plants.
The province has large hydropower resources and had nearly 68 GW of hydropower capacity installed at the end of 2015 (about 20% of the country's hydropower capacity). In 2015, it generated 264 TWh from hydro plants. However, a large part of this generation is wasted due to insufficient grid capacity and grid planning. The province is then seeking to slow down new hydropower development and is working to improve electricity grid planning to cut waste.
Earlier in 2016, the Yunnan province also restricted small-size hydropower plants on the Nu river; the province aims to raise its hydro capacity to 70 GW by the end of 2020.
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