The changing role of the China Three Gorges Corporation in the Yangtze River: exploration from hydropower development to comprehensive watershed management

Abstract

As China’s largest clean energy group and the world’s largest hydropower development company, China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) accounts for 3/4 of hydropower installed capacity, where most of which are distributed in the Yangtze River Basin. Since 2017, CTG has formally entered the field of water pollution control, taking the “water” as the core and the sewage treatment of cities/towns along the river as an entry point. From a technical point of view, with the advantages of hydropower dispatching and operation, the integration of water resources protection, water pollution control, as well as water ecological restoration will be gradually completed to achieve the “one water” control goal. From a management point of view, through the means of government-enterprise cooperation model, the establishment of a jointly sharing mechanism by relevant stakeholders, as well as the market-oriented commercial operation, the implementation and supervision of the watershed administration will be strengthened. CTG has started a new exploration of enterprises participating in the comprehensive governance of watershed management, which will provide ecological priority and sustainable development experience for the watershed management of the world.