With the fast development of hydropower in China, a group of hydropower stations has been put into operation in the past few decades and the hydropower system scale is experiencing a booming period.
The flood discharge tunnel groups at the Changheba Hydropower Station are selected as a case to study the design of ventilation schemes in inclined tunnel groups; these groups are characterized by a gradient of approximately 10% and a complex intersecting relationship among the tunnels.
This group is subdivided into micro hydropower from 1 to 100 kW, mini hydropower from 100 kW to 1 MW and small hydropower from 1 to 10 MW.
According to these groups, plans for massive hydropower development will result in irreversible environmental impacts on the Selenga river basin and Lake Baikal, and will also have significant socio-economic impacts on the communities who depend upon these resources.
With the long history of violent conflicts involving the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups in various states, hydropower development on the Salween River is, in fact, closely linked to the wider discussion of Myanmar's ongoing peace process.
"In a way, this issue about the difference in survival of transported fish versus fish that migrate through the river is a red herring," said Rob Masonis, regional director of hydropower programs for American Rivers, a conservation group.
Many factors influence the static and dynamic stabilities of the rocks surrounding large cavern groups, such as in a hydropower station.
Geomechanical model tests are conducted in this study to investigate the failure behaviour and instability of the "large, deep, long and in-group" tunnels constructed in the Jinping II hydropower station.
With groups opposed to nuclear, natural gas, wind, hydropower, solar and virtually every other form of energy, we are beginning to miss the big picture here.
Bharat Lal Seth, an independent rivers expert who has worked with advocacy groups such as International Rivers, says small-scale hydropower needs proper oversight to ensure it benefits communities and does not damage the local environment.
