China, India Become Front Runner For Asia’s Biggest Hydropower Crunch In Decades

Hydropower generation in Asia has plunged at the fastest rate in decades amid sharp declines in China and India, data shows, forcing power regulators battling volatile electricity demand and erratic weather to rely more on fossil fuels.

The two countries, which account for about 3/4 of Asia’s power generation and most of its emissions, are also to a lesser extent using renewables to make up for the hydropower shortfall and address rising electricity use.

Major Asian economies have faced power shortages in recent years due to extreme weather conditions, including intense heat and lower rainfall over large swathes of northern China and Vietnam, as well as in India’s east and the north.

Higher use of polluting fuels such as coal to meet electricity demand spikes and supply shortages underscore the challenges of lowering emissions.

Asia’s hydropower output fell 17.9% during the seven months through July, data from energy think tank Ember showed, while fossil fuel-fired power rose 4.5%.

China’s hydroelectricity generation during the eight months ended August declined at the sharpest rate since at least 1989, falling 15.9%, an analysis of National Bureau of Statistics data showed.

In India, hydropower generation fell 6.2% during the eight months ended August in the sharpest decline since 2016. Its share of power output plunged to 9.2%, the lowest in at least 19 years, according to an analysis of government data.

China made up for the hydro shortfall and higher power demand mainly by increasing electricity generation from fossil fuels by 6.1% in the eight months through August, while India boosted fossil fuel-fired power output by 12.4%, data showed.