An unprecedented boom in dam construction is expected to double hydropower electricity generation capacity in the next ten years, according to a new research database.
However, the study is warning that the growth, primarily in developing countries and emerging economies, could reduce the number of the world’s last remaining large free-flowing rivers by about 20 percent and pose a serious threat to freshwater biodiversity.
Prof. Dr. Christiane Zarfl (Universität Tübingen) who, undertook the study together with colleagues at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin, presented the database at the last week’s congress Global Challenges: Achieving Sustainability hosted by the University of Copenhagen.
According to the researchers, the intensified demand for electricity from renewable sources has kick-started the hydropower development into a new era. Following a period of a flattening trend, an unprecedented number of dams for electricity production is currently under construction or planned worldwide.
However, the boom is also taking place primarily in developing countries and emerging economies in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa, that also hold some of the world’s most important sites for freshwater biodiversity.
Prof. Dr. Zarfl commented:
“Hydropower is an integrated part of transitioning to renewable energy and currently the largest contributor of renewable electricity. However, it is vital that hydropower dams do not create a new problem for the biodiversity in the world’s freshwater systems, due to fragmentation and the expected changes in the flow and sediment regime. That is why we have compiled available data on future expected hydropower dams - to form a key foundation for evaluating where and how to build the dams and how to operate them sustainably.”
Renewables currently account for 20 percent of the global electricity production today, with hydropower contributing 80 percent of the total share. An expected 3700 major dams could more than double the total electricity capacity of hydropower to 1,700 GW within the next two decades.
If all the planned dams are realized, China will remain the global leader in hydropower dam construction although its share of total future global hydropower production will decline from currently 31 to 25 percent, due to increases in other parts of the world.
The Amazon and La Plata basins in Brazil will have the largest total number of new dams in South America, whereas the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin (mainly India and Nepal) and the Yangtze basin in China will face the highest dam construction in Asia.
Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner, head of IGB, who is leading the Institute´s research activities on sustainable hydropower development added:
“When building new dams, it is important to follow a systematic management approach that considers the ecological, social, and economic consequences of multiple dams within a river basin.”
The database will be launched in BioFresh, the platform for global freshwater biodiversity (www.freshwaterbiodiversity.eu) Prof. Dr. Zarfl hope said the research team hoped to see the results used as a valuable reference basis for scientists and decision makers in supporting sustainable hydropower development.
The BioFreshproject has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration. The project aims to build a global information platform for scientists and ecosystem managers with access to all available databases describing the distribution, status and trends of global freshwater biodiversity.