Damming the transnational Ayeyarwady basin. Hydropower and the water-energy nexus

The Ayeyarwady basin, one of Asia's largest transnational river basins, shared by Myanmar, China and India, has an immense theoretical hydropower potential of 45 GW. Currently hydropower projects with an approximate capacity of 33 GW are already in various stages of development. Projects include some of the world's largest and most controversial endeavours (e.g. Myitsone). Of these projects 6.4 GW are already installed in 187 hydropower projects (≥1 MW). Despite its huge relevance, the transnational Ayeyarwady basin still belongs to the less known basins, which is largely attributed to its small Chinese section. However, the current knowledge is limited to Myanmar's segment where a limited number of 16 projects exist. In contrast, there are a multitude of projects −174 (18 large and 156 small) - in the Chinese section, including the basins largest one (Daying-4: 875 MW). The combination of small and large projects makes the Chinese section one of the most dense (small) hydropower catchments worldwide. About half of the entire basin's hydropower output is exported to the energy starved Guangdong province (from both countries) and almost another quarter is used for energy intensive industries in the tiny Chinese section; hence currently only about 30% of the basin's generated (hydro-)electricity is used there for households, industry, etc. This results in a complex water-energy nexus that is complicated by a tangled geopolitical setting directly in the border region, where many projects are located. This paper describes that nexus based on Darrin Magee's powershed approach.