China has thousands of hydropower projects it doesn’t want

The Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, bucks the trend of as many as 40,000 less useful dams that China wants to decommission. — STR/AFP

China is trying to wean its massive economy off coal and fossil fuels to meet its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. So why is it trying to shut down as many as 40,000 hydropower plants?

The answer lies deep in the nation’s troubled history of trying to control its rivers. Ever since Chairman Mao Zedong exhorted workers in the 1950s to "conquer nature,” China has been throwing up dams large and small at a prolific rate to generate power, tame flooding and provide irrigation for fields and drinking water for cities. The long-term effects of that often chaotic policy are now coming home to roost.