Dry conditions, especially in China, caused a “historic” global decline in hydropower generation in the first half of 2023, a new analysis shows, highlighting the effects of climate change.
According to the research conducted by the ember renewable energy research center, this decrease “serves as a warning that hydropower production may adversely affect the speed of conversion to electricity”.
The group said that hydropower generation globally fell by 8,5% this year to June, the largest year-over-year decline in the last two decades.
Three-quarters of the decline was the result of snowfall in China, which experienced record temperatures earlier this year.
The decline in hydropower production means that global carbon emissions rose slightly in the first half of 2023, despite a 12% increase in solar and wind energy worldwide.
The “ember” group said in its recent report that the low growth in electricity demand contributed to keeping the rise in emissions lower than it could have been. But even so, China has seen its emissions rise by almost 8% as it needs to compensate for the loss of hydropower.
But while the extreme heat and drought conditions that have caused a drop in hydropower production this year may have been driven by climate change, the Research Center warned that future impacts are still difficult to calculate.
