New CWR Report! No River, No Power – Can Asia’s Rivers Power Growth in a Changing Climate?
by CWR 24 May, 2023
24 May, 2023 – CWR releases new report, “No River, No Power – Can Asia’s rivers power growth in a changing climate?”, which analyses a third of global power generation capacity to find that escalating climate risks and rivers running dry can strand sizeable portions of national power generation assets.
The report finds sizeable trifecta exposure to water risks across 10 key rivers from the Yangtze, Yellow, Indus, Ganges, to the Mekong (10 HKH Rivers):
- Almost half of this (865GW) are in the 10 HKH River Basins – this is more than the total GW of the G7 ex-US;
- Over 94% of the 865GW needs water to generate electricity; and
- Almost 330GW or 38% of power GW clustered in 10 basins are located in areas that are arid or already face ‘High’ to ‘Extremely High’ water stress.
Analyses in the report showed clear national energy security implications for 16 countries from China, India, Pakistan, Laos, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nepal to Bhutan – there is high energy dependence on single to multiple rivers.
Findings are shocking but timely. Already, last year, Yangtze droughts disrupted the power supply and wreaked havoc across global supply chains while Indus floods displaced over 30 million people and devastated Pakistan’s economy.
Yet the report cautions that worse is still to come… the stats are compelling so dip into the report and you will never look at power and rivers in the same way again.
“It’s not just national power assets that can be stranded, lives and livelihoods are also at stake – one in two Asians live in these 10 river basins where over US$4.3trn of GDP is generated annually”
“Now is the time for Asia to put in place sensible energy policies that will protect and not destroy our rivers. If we do not fail our rivers, our rivers will not fail us”
Debra Tan, Head of CWR & lead author of the report
This first-of-its kind report includes:
- 10 HKH Rivers power Asia
- National energy dependence on 10 HKH Rivers
- Balancing waternomics & powergen risks – 4 Risk Groups
- Coal-fired power exposure to water stress as well as floods and droughts
- Energy policies for a water secure future: 8 broad recommendations
- Lessons from China from cooling tech bans, waternomic roadmaps to managing water extremes
- River Power Factsheets showing people, economy, power & key country exposure + climate impacts on flows for each river basin (see full set here or download individual factsheet here)
Don’t lose power! Make the right energy decisions today for economic, water and energy security tomorrow – start by unpacking Asia’s tight water-energy-climate nexus with the Executive Summary and power up with the full report.
See the Press Release or access the Media Pack (includes infographics).
| “We must curate mountains-to-oceans waternomic roadmaps and energy systems that are resilient to climate change. National energy and water security plans must dovetail.” “In developing Asia, we have the luxury of real time adjustments to our development models to rein in emissions plus build infrastructure to adapt to climate impacts …” “We are optimistic that Asia can fast track the transition … did you know that China’s clean electricity output of 2,960TWh in 2022 has already surpassed the EU’s 2021 total electricity generation of 2,785TWh?” Debra Tan, Head of CWR & lead author |
“The report is far from perfect, with clear data gaps, but given the risks, we felt compelled to make a start in unpacking Asia’s tight water-energy-climate nexus so that we can make informed energy decisions today for water tomorrow” “What’s clear is that the eight countries which fall into the ‘Overall High Risk Group’ must let basin risks guide energy policies” Dr CT Low, Geospatial Risk Lead & co-author |