{"id":20007641,"date":"2014-03-10T18:01:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T12:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=7641"},"modified":"2020-12-10T22:26:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T16:56:49","slug":"large-dams-dont-make-economic-sense-says-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/large-dams-dont-make-economic-sense-says-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Large dams don\u2019t make economic sense, says study"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article_body\">\n<p>The wave of new mega dams under construction globally is economically unviable, according to Oxford university researchers who have found such projects typically cost nearly twice as much as first estimated and rarely finish on time.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The findings are\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.enpol.2013.10.069\">based on a study<\/a>\u00a0of 245 dams built in 65 countries since 1934, making it the most comprehensive analysis since a slew of mega-dam projects began recently, ending a two-decade lull.<\/p>\n<p>Projects under construction, including the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/2013\/06\/18\/will-nawaz-sharif-face-up-to-pakistans-dismal-water-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diamer-Bhasha<\/a>\u00a0in Pakistan, the cascade on the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadialogue.net\/article\/5021-Jinsha-dam-plans-stoke-old-rows\">Jinsha River in China<\/a>, and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadialogue.net\/article\/show\/single\/en\/5601-Chinese-loans-could-fuel-regional-conflict-in-East-Africa\">Gibe III dam in Ethiopia<\/a>, are unprecedented in scale.<\/p>\n<p>Proponents argue such projects boost renewable energy in countries eager to increase their electricity supplies without burning more fossil fuels. However, they meet with fierce opposition because they displace millions of people, flood swathes of farming land and destroy fragile ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>This study will provide fresh fodder for campaigners who want to make the economic case against dams as a sustainable energy source. It found large dam construction costs were on average more than 90% higher than initial budgets, while eight out of 10 suffered a schedule over-run. Dam builders and financiers have also failed to learn from mistakes of the past, argue the researchers, since neither cost nor schedule overruns have improved over time.<\/p>\n<p>The study condemns Pakistan\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/2013\/06\/18\/will-nawaz-sharif-face-up-to-pakistans-dismal-water-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diamer-Bhasha<\/a> dam as \u201ca non-starter\u201d \u2013 the giant project on the Indus River is expected to cost US$25.4 billion rather than US$12.7 billion, and to be completed in 2027 rather than 2012.<\/p>\n<p>While projects in poorer regions tend to have longer delays and leave countries saddled with more debt, even in China large projects are \u201clikely to hinder the economic viability of the country as a whole unless risks are mitigated,\u201d claim the researchers.<\/p>\n<p>China is the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.internationalrivers.org\/files\/attached-files\/intlrivers_newgreatwalls_2012_2.pdf\">world\u2019s leading dam builder<\/a>; half of the world\u2019s 45,000 large dams are in China and Chinese companies are involved in over 300 dam projects in 70 different countries.<\/p>\n<h2><b>More than economics<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>For China it is not only the direct construction costs that need to be considered. The bulk of the country\u2019s new hydropower will come online in the remote south-western regions and on the Tibetan plateau.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/article\/map-chinas-west-east-electricity-transfer-project\">Transferring the electricity<\/a>\u00a0produced thousands of kilometres to where it will be consumed by industry and growing cities on the east coast will further push up costs.<\/p>\n<p>Mitigating the environmental damage inflicted by hydropower is also costly. Reports in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/content\/333\/6044\/817\"><i>Science<\/i>\u00a0estimate it<\/a>\u00a0will cost US$26.45 billion will to deal with the environmental impacts of the Three Gorges Dam over the next 10 years. The US \u2013 the world\u2019s second most prolific dam builder after China \u2013 is now spending huge amounts of time and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinadialogue.net\/article\/show\/single\/en\/6646-US-turns-back-the-clock-on-dam-building\">money dismantling dams<\/a>\u00a0across the country to restore river flow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wave of mega dams being built worldwide is economically unviable, even before taking into account environmental and social costs, argues an Oxford University report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":20014094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757],"tags":[50040314,554,587],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000110,20000111,20000112],"class_list":["post-20007641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-dams","tag-hydropower","tag-rivers","country-china","country-india","country-pakistan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Large dams don\u2019t make economic sense, says study | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The wave of mega dams being built worldwide is economically unviable, even before taking into account environmental and social costs, argues an Oxford University report\" 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