Small hydropower was missing from the 100th anniversary of China’s power generation, and small hydropower was also missing from the annual large-scale hydropower generation activities. Now small hydropower is quietly retreating from the national standard system, which shows that this industry is not strong enough. However, China’s power development started with small hydropower, China’s mountainous county economic development relies on small hydropower, China’s major disaster management relies on small hydropower, and China’s national defense cannot do without small hydropower. Without the experience of building and manufacturing small hydropower stations, it would be impossible for China to have the status of a major hydropower country today. However, the small hydropower people themselves have forgotten their glorious history and great achievements, and they are like a complaining woman who keeps complaining about social injustice all day long. Although Shanghai established China’s first power generation company, the earliest power generation, transmission and power supply system was formed by the Shilongba Hydropower Station in Kunming, Yunnan. This is a small hydropower station, and China’s small hydropower people should go there for pilgrimage. During the War of Liberation, Chairman Mao commanded thousands of troops in Xibaipo and won the three major battles, relying on millions of telegrams to command. And the power supply was provided by the small hydropower station of Xiuxiushui. Small hydropower was once glorious. In the era when the national power grid was very weak and even the urban power supply could not meet the needs, small hydropower supported the production and living electricity needs of the vast mountainous counties, supported the working people in the mountainous areas to enter modern urban life in advance, provided reliable energy for the country’s third-line construction, and provided energy guarantee for national security.
Today, small hydropower is outdated, and we must face up to the backward situation. With the input of various new energy sources, it is inevitable that small hydropower will go from strong to weak, and we should be fully prepared. At the same time, we must seriously reflect on ourselves.
In 1979, hydropower was separated, and small hydropower was very strong, with strong troops and talents. But we did not seize the opportunity to expand the scale of local power grids and truly realize self-construction, self-management, and self-use. We did not attach importance to the transformation of the two networks, lost the second opportunity, lost a large area of power supply areas and local power grids, and began to decline from then on. From the perspective of the real economy, small hydropower has gradually declined from a complete system of generation, supply, and use to a single power generation individual, and it is impossible to restore its former glory. If you fall behind, you will be beaten. This is not only true at the world level, but also at the domestic level. It is imperative to protect the power supply load in the nearby area according to law.
From the management level, the power sector has long entered the network information age, while small hydropower is still in the stage of meetings, learning, reporting, and on-site acceptance. From the main equipment level, the power industry has long entered the maintenance-free era, and the problems of running, bubbling, dripping, and leakage in small hydropower have not been solved so far. From the automation equipment level, the power sector has entered the era of intelligent equipment, with robot inspections. Most small hydropower equipment is still electromagnetic protection and analog excitation. Water conservancy informatization, which belongs to the same family as us, has long entered the smart water conservancy, while small hydropower stands outside the door of wisdom. This is the gap. This is backwardness.
Now we have entered the stage of Industry 4.0, and if we don’t advance, we will retreat.
Small hydropower must face up to backwardness and bravely catch up.
First of all, the development of small hydropower should participate in the development plan of smart water conservancy, and the technical development goals of small hydropower should be formulated according to the development outline of smart water conservancy. We should strive for national financial support to help small hydropower stations complete upgrading and transformation, not just local technical transformation. Formulate long-term development goals and integrate the future development of small hydropower stations into the rural revitalization and economic development plan
Post time: Apr-07-2025
