Sustainable hydropower development: International perspective and challenges for China

The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol proposed by the International Hydropower Association is aim to represent the latest understanding and view of hydropower sustainability on behalf of the hydropower sectors around the world. Main principle and general contents of the Protocol are introduced in this paper at first. Then the references of the IHA Protocol to China are analyzed by combing the principles of the Protocol and main problems exist in the development of hydropower in China. The hydropower sectors in China should learn the concept of sustainable hydropower development, emphasize the environment protection measures and establish benefit sharing mechanism in the hydropower utilization. Main challenges of the sustainable hydropower for China are to meet the demand of national energy strategy for hydropower, protect the aquatic ecosystem in exploitation and solve social problems represented by resettlement. The IHA Protocol is helpful to identify the problems and find solutions for the challenges.