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China Eyes Hydropower to Relief Pollution
Jan 2, 2001- People's Daily
China's installed hydropower capacity
will rise by 35 percent from the current 74 million
kilowatts to 100 million kilowatts by 2005 to replace
dirty and inefficient thermal power.
Hydropower is expected to represent
27 percent of the country's power generation capacity
by 2005, a 3.5 percent rise from the current level.
A total of 150 million kilowatts will
have been installed by 2015, according to the State
Power Corp. of China, China's largest power producer.
China is exploiting only 10 percent
of its hydropower resources so far, compared with
50 to 90 percent in some developed countries.
And more than 70 percent of the country's
electric power comes from thermal power plants to
date, which has caused severe pollution, especially
in coastal cities.
The development of clean and renewable
hydropower is of great significance to the country
as it tries to satisfy increasing power demands as
well as protect the environment, officials said.
The national power consumption in China
is expected to increase by 5 to 6 percent annually
in the next five years and it is estimated to top
a total 1,650 billion kilowatt hours a year by 2005,
up 26.9 percent over the current level.
Abundant hydropower resources in the
western regions, especially along the upper reaches
of the Yellow River and Yangtze River, will play an
important role in fulfilling the country's ambitious
goals, said an official with the company.
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