High costs, capacity excess foil China hydro boom

Beijing

CHINA'S plans to ramp up hydropower capacity in order to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets could be stymied by soaring costs, a weak power market and a surplus of capacity in key regions of the south-west, developers said.

Smog-hit China is working to ease its dependence on coal and raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its total energy mix to 15 per cent by 2020, up from around 11 per cent now, but officials said the boom years for hydro were now over.