China could be wasting enough hydroelectricity to power Britain and Germany for a year, depriving its smog-bound eastern regions of huge volumes of clean energy as a result of poor planning and weak grid infrastructure.
A controversial dam-building program raised China's hydropower capacity to 300 gigawatts last year, but a preoccupation with capacity rather than efficiency and grid connectivity has created huge local surpluses that are often literally flushed away, executives said.
Hydropower is a key component in China's efforts to cut coal use and meet pledges made during global climate talks to raise the share of renewables in its total energy use — which includes fuels used for heating and vehicles as well as power — to 20 percent by 2030, up from 11 percent now.