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A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance has said that northern China’s electricity sector is depleting the arid region’s water supply. Coal-fired power generators in the north, along with coal mining in the same region, were responsible for withdrawing 98 billion cubic metres of fresh water in 2010, nearly 15 per cent of China’s total fresh water withdrawals that year. While northern China has 60 per cent of the country’s thermal power, it contains only 20 per cent of its fresh water supply.
Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy (APNE) 2025
The report cites China’s top five state-owned utilities – China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corporation, China Huadian Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, and China Power Investment Corporation. The report says that if the five companies continue with development of coal-fired power plants, those water withdrawals would be 25 per cent beyond the government’s 2030 target of capping national water withdrawals at 700 billion cubic metres per year.
Separate research by the China Environmental Forum shows that China’s total water reserves dropped 13 per cent from 2009, with the water shortage being particularly severe in the north.