China goes global: A comparative study of Chinese hydropower dams in Africa and Asia

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Hydropower, Large hydropower (capacity of 10 MW and above))
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Development Studies)
AREA STUDIES (Middle Eastern and African Studies)
AREA STUDIES (Asian Studies)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Civil Engineering)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Dr F Urban
Ctr for Development Environment & Policy
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Standard

ESRC

15 October 2012

15 April 2016

42 months

£595,393

London

Evaluation

Dr F Urban, Ctr for Development Environment & Policy, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Professor GM Mohan, Engineering & Innovation, Open University
Professor LED Smith, Ctr for Development Environment & Policy, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Dr PM Tan, Research and Business Development Office, China Campus (Ningbo) of the University of Nottingham, China

China's rapid economic growth has created a series of pressures which has forced the country to engage more closely with a number of low and middle income countries. First, China's growth has depleted scarce domestic resources and so part of its 'Going Out Strategy' encourages overseas investment to access natural resources such as energy and minerals. Secondly, as some sectors of the Chinese market become relatively saturated large state-owned enterprises aim to internationalise and acquire new markets. Thirdly, China's rapid technological advances -such as in energy and information technology- have made it possible to expand overseas. These three drivers - resource access, new markets, technological advances - come together in the hydropower sector where China is the pre-eminent global player in major dam projects usually supported by Chinese state finance.The aim of the proposed project is to provide the first systematic and comparative analysis of the social, economic, environmental and political impacts of Chinese dam projects in low and middle income countries that will inform corporate behaviour in the UK and China and shape emerging national and international policy responses. The project will involve detailed empirical research in Ghana, Nigeria, Cambodia and Malaysia, which represent different facets of China's hydropower in the global South.This research aims to address four key issues: (a) Coordination of Chinese investment strategies vis- -vis low and middle income countries; (b) impacts on local social and environmental conditions in recipient countries; (c) effects on local and regional governance; and (d) implications for both UK firms and OECD aid programmes.To address these key issues we adopt an interdisciplinary, multi-method approach which reflects the international scope of these complex interconnections. We will conduct 4 case studies in Africa and Asia where Chinese hydropower activity is most intense. The selected case study sites ar the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia, the Bakun Dam in Malaysia (Borneo), the Bui Dam in Ghana, and the Zamfara Dam in Nigeria.We will conduct a wide range of in-depths interviews with Chinese firms, financiers, policy-makers, African/Asian policy-makers, Asian/African communities, NGOs, UK firms and international aid organisations and evaluate project documentation, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies and firm strategies.The expected outcomes will be (a) the first systematic study of Chinese hydropower projects as part of a wider concern with China's growing role in the developing world and its implications for UK firms and OECD donors; (b) a truly inter-disciplinary theoretical and methodological approach which combines human geography, development studies, environmental sciences, and politics; and (c) the generation of new theory in the area of critical development studies and political ecology, particularly around the implications of 'South-South'relations of resource control.

22/01/15