IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-57891-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecological restoration in the Yellow River Basin enhances hydropower potential

Author

Listed:
  • Xutong Wu

    (Beijing Normal University)

  • Zihan Yan

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Haiyan Yang

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Shuai Wang

    (Beijing Normal University)

  • Haoyu Zhang

    (Beijing Normal University)

  • Yilin Shen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Shuang Song

    (Beijing Normal University)

  • Yanxu Liu

    (Beijing Normal University)

  • Ying Guo

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Dawen Yang

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Bojie Fu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Hydropower, an important renewable energy source worldwide, is threatened by reservoir sedimentation. Ecological restoration (ER) can mitigate this by reducing upstream sediment, thereby extending hydropower facilities’ lifespan. However, ER may also reduce runoff, potentially diminishing energy generation and complicating its overall impact on hydropower potential. Here, we examine China’s Yellow River, once the world’s most sediment-laden river, using eco-hydrological and reservoir regulation models to assess how large-scale ER influences the hydropower potential of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir, which controls 92.3% of the basin area. Our results indicate that, excluding upstream reservoirs’ operations and socioeconomic water use, Xiaolangdi could generate a total of ~2.7×1011 kWh of energy before facing diminished flexibility and efficiency caused by the exhaustion of sediment storage—57.3% more than without ER—equating to an additional ~100 billion kWh. This enhancement in hydropower potential primarily arises from the extended lifespan, despite a 6.9% reduction in average annual energy generation. These findings advance our understanding of the ecosystem-water-sediment-energy nexus, offering valuable insights for integrated watershed management globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Xutong Wu & Zihan Yan & Haiyan Yang & Shuai Wang & Haoyu Zhang & Yilin Shen & Shuang Song & Yanxu Liu & Ying Guo & Dawen Yang & Bojie Fu, 2025. "Ecological restoration in the Yellow River Basin enhances hydropower potential," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57891-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57891-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57891-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-57891-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David E. H. J. Gernaat & Patrick W. Bogaart & Detlef P. van Vuuren & Hester Biemans & Robin Niessink, 2017. "High-resolution assessment of global technical and economic hydropower potential," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(10), pages 821-828, October.
    2. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    3. Chiesi, M. & Maselli, F. & Moriondo, M. & Fibbi, L. & Bindi, M. & Running, S.W., 2007. "Application of BIOME-BGC to simulate Mediterranean forest processes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 206(1), pages 179-190.
    4. Min Gon Chung & Kenneth A. Frank & Yadu Pokhrel & Thomas Dietz & Jianguo Liu, 2021. "Natural infrastructure in sustaining global urban freshwater ecosystem services," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1068-1075, December.
    5. Vogl, Adrian L. & Dennedy-Frank, P. James & Wolny, Stacie & Johnson, Justin A. & Hamel, Perrine & Narain, Urvashi & Vaidya, Anil, 2016. "Managing forest ecosystem services for hydropower production," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 221-229.
    6. Sebastian Sterl & Inne Vanderkelen & Celray James Chawanda & Daniel Russo & Robert J. Brecha & Ann Griensven & Nicole P. M. Lipzig & Wim Thiery, 2020. "Smart renewable electricity portfolios in West Africa," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 710-719, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mensah, Theophilus Nii Odai & Oyewo, Ayobami Solomon & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Aghahosseini, Arman & Breyer, Christian, 2024. "Pathway for a fully renewable power sector of Africa by 2050: Emphasising on flexible generation from biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    2. Grace C. Wu & Ranjit Deshmukh & Anne Trainor & Anagha Uppal & A. F. M. Kamal Chowdhury & Carlos Baez & Erik Martin & Jonathan Higgins & Ana Mileva & Kudakwashe Ndhlukula, 2024. "Avoiding ecosystem and social impacts of hydropower, wind, and solar in Southern Africa’s low-carbon electricity system," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Paulina Schiappacasse & Bernhard Müller & Le Thuy Linh, 2019. "Towards Responsible Aggregate Mining in Vietnam," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Pina Puntillo, 2023. "Circular economy business models: Towards achieving sustainable development goals in the waste management sector—Empirical evidence and theoretical implications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 941-954, March.
    5. R. Ebrahimi & S. Choobchian & H. Farhadian & I. Goli & E. Farmandeh & H. Azadi, 2022. "Investigating the effect of vocational education and training on rural women’s empowerment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Lampros Lamprinidis, 2025. "Socially Responsible Public Procurement and the Social Economy: European and Global Institutional Approaches," Journal of Public Policy and Administration, IPRJB, vol. 10(1), pages 46-62.
    7. Bárbara Galleli & Elder Semprebon & Joyce Aparecida Ramos dos Santos & Noah Emanuel Brito Teles & Mateus Santos de Freitas-Martins & Raquel Teodoro da Silva Onevetch, 2021. "Institutional Pressures, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19: How Are Organisations Engaging?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Anna Napiórkowska & Piotr Zaborek & Marzanna Katarzyna Witek-Hajduk & Anna Grudecka, 2025. "Individual Cultural Values and Charitable Crowdfunding: Driving Social Sustainability Through Consumer Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-26, June.
    9. Sagarika Dey & Priyanka Devi, 2019. "Impact of TVET on Labour Market Outcomes and Women’s Empowerment in Rural Areas: A Case Study from Cachar District, Assam," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 13(3), pages 357-371, December.
    10. Maria Sassi, 2020. "A SEM Approach to the Direct and Indirect Links between WaSH Services and Access to Food in Countries in Protracted Crises: The Case of Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State, South Sudan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-13, November.
    11. Olga Stepanova & Magdalena Romanov, 2021. "Urban Planning as a Strategy to Implement Social Sustainability Policy Goals? The Case of Temporary Housing for Immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Michel, Hanno, 2020. "From local to global: The role of knowledge, transfer, and capacity building for successful energy transitions," Discussion Papers, Research Group Digital Mobility and Social Differentiation SP III 2020-603, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    13. Hervé Corvellec & Johan Hultman & Anne Jerneck & Susanne Arvidsson & Johan Ekroos & Niklas Wahlberg & Timothy W. Luke, 2021. "Resourcification: A non‐essentialist theory of resources for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1249-1256, November.
    14. Wilson Charles Wilson & Maja Slingerland & Frederick P. Baijukya & Hannah Zanten & Simon Oosting & Ken E. Giller, 2021. "Integrating the soybean-maize-chicken value chains to attain nutritious diets in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1595-1612, December.
    15. Jones, Lindsey & d'Errico, Marco, 2019. "Whose resilience matters? Like-for-like comparison of objective and subjective evaluations of resilience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Bin Xue & Bingsheng Liu & Tao Liang & Dong Zhao & Tao Wang & Xingbin Chen, 2022. "A heterogeneous decision criteria system evaluating sustainable infrastructure development: From the lens of multidisciplinary stakeholder engagement," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 556-579, August.
    17. Sudheesh Ramapurath Chemmencheri, 2016. "Social Protection as a Human Right in South Asia," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 10(2), pages 236-252, August.
    18. Ingrid Boas & Frank Biermann & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "Cross-sectoral strategies in global sustainability governance: towards a nexus approach," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 449-464, June.
    19. Joyeeta Gupta & Louis Lebel, 0. "Access and allocation in earth system governance: lessons learnt in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-18.
    20. Guo, Jiaqi & Wang, Qiang & Li, Rongrong, 2024. "Can official development assistance promote renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa countries? A matter of institutional transparency of recipient countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57891-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.