The comprehensive and active use of hydro power, which was made more urgent by the nation's recent widespread energy shortages, should be encouraged in the long term, according to an article in People's Daily. An excerpt follow:

Speaking at an international seminar on hydro power last week, Vice-Minister of Water Resources Suo Lisheng disclosed that China has only explored 15 per cent of its abundant hydro power resources, with the potential to generate 378 million kilowatts.

According to the State Grid Corporation, China's electricity consumption and generation capacity is projected to more than double by 2020 from its current level in 2003.

These two factors, combined with the recent widespread electricity shortages, have made the more active use of hydro power a consensus among industrial experts.

Since the mid-1990s, the lagging development of hydro power was dwarfed by the breakneck development of thermal power.

Hydro power in China does have some inherent problems to blame for its relatively sluggish development, such as high construction costs, the resettlement of displaced residents and the unreliability of the power supply during the dry season.

However, the active development of hydro power should not be the short-term solution to the present electricity shortage, but rather a long-term strategy.

Being renewable and clean, hydro power has its own unrivalled advantage over other energy sources. Hydro power facilities could also serve multiple functions such as flood prevention, water supply, irrigation and transportation.

And more importantly, hydro power is a major type of energy resource that is not adequately tapped in China.