China plans to increase its installed hydropower capacity by 15
million kilowatts to supply electricity for 10 million rural
residents from 2006 to 2010, said sources with the Ministry of
Water Resources (MWR) on Thursday.
To develop hydropower is not only a way to meet the power demand
of Chinese rural residents to improve their living standards, but
also an important measure to improve the energy consumption
structure of China's rural area, said Cheng Huizhou, director of
the Bureau of Rural Hydropower and Electrification Development of
the MWR.
The move to replace traditional wood fuels with hydropower for
10 million rural residents will protect 35 million mu (2.3 million
hectares) of forest and will establish a long-term mechanism for
five million poor people in rural areas to increase their income,
said Cheng.
According to statistics of the MWR, China increased its rural
hydropower installed capacity by 10.64 million kw from 2001 to
2004. By the end of 2004, the total hydropower installed capacity
in China's rural areas reached 38.65 million kw. The reduction of
electricity price directly decreased the cost of rural residents by
an annual average of over four billion yuan (US$500 million).
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2006)