ABSTRACT
Inter-provincial electricity transmission has been utilized in China to balance its mismatch between resource endowments and development. Electricity is generated in the coal-abundant or hydro-abundant inland regions in the west and transmitted to support the high consumption along the more developed and heavily populated coastal regions in the east. In 2014, 6.31 and 0.622 km3 of water was withdrawn and consumed, respectively, to produce the transmitted coal-fired power in all electricity-exporting provinces in China. On the other hand, 26.41 km3 of water withdrawal and 0.64 km3 of water consumption were avoided in electricity-importing provinces by importing electricity. On an aggregated national level, due to the differences in provincial water productivities for coal-fired power generation, 20.10 km3 of water withdrawal savings and 0.021 km3 of water consumption saving were realized by inter-provincial electricity transmissions in China. In addition, 12 long-distance transmission lines were initiated in 2014, which are expected to induce 391.3 to 497.6 million m3 of water consumption and 2.97 to 3.24 billion m3 of water withdrawal in the electricity-exporting provinces, assuming the transmission lines’ utilization rate is 80%. On a national level, 58.21 to 164.52 million m3 of water consumption and 17.90 to 18.16 billion m3 of water withdrawal will be saved by these transmission lines due to the avoided water uses in the electricity-importing provinces. Overall, because electricity-importing provinces face even stronger water scarcity than the electricity-exporting provinces, inter-provincial electricity transmissions also generate scarce water savings on a national level in China.
