Yesterday we were joined by Frauke Urban, Associate Professor in the Management of Sustainable Energy Systems at KTH, as part of the FutureDAMS lecture series.
The lecture focused on the findings from her recent comparative study of Chinese hydropower dams in Africa and Asia.
Summary:
There is a renewed global interest in large hydropower dams to reduce energy poverty and to mitigate global climate change. Chinese dam-builders are considered global leaders in large hydropower dams due to the number and size of dams built, their investment sums, their global coverage and due to their state-of-the-art technology. Chinese dam-builders therefore play an important role for South-South technology transfer in the hydropower sector, particularly in Asia and Africa.
This presentation focuses on the role China plays in large dam investments and construction in Southeast Asia and West Africa, with case studies from Cambodia, Ghana and Malaysia. The findings are based on a 4-year long research project funded by the UK Economics and Social Research Council ESRC that comparatively examined the mechanisms and implications of Chinese hydropower dams in Africa and Asia.
Photo: Bakun dam construction, creative commons
Note: This article gives the views of the author/academic featured and does not represent the views of FutureDAMS as a whole.