China has the world's richest hydropower resources. After 40 years of vigorous development, a number of indicators in its hydropower station construction ranked first in the world, and has become a bright name card of the “going out” strategy, which will have a far-reaching impact on the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.Driven by the goal of achieving “carbon peak and carbon neutral”, China's hydropower development ushered in a new historical opportunity.Professor Wang Zhuofu's team, together with Yalong Hydro Company and China Three Gorges Corporation, systematically reviewed and sorted out the development of the theory of megaproject governance and the 40-year evolution process of China's hydropower megaproject governance. On this basis, the team focused on the historic breakthroughs in megaproject governance of Lubuge Hydropower Station in Yunnan Province, Three Gorges Hydropower Station in Yangtze River and Yangfanggou Hydropower Station in Yalong River, which play a leading role in each stage, and looks into the development process and law of China's hydropower megaprojects governance under the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.
The main findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, it has gradually developed from government administration to the governance system of government-led + market mechanism within 40-year hydropower megaproject construction management, and has gone through three milestones: opening project transaction governance, forming project top-level governance, and creating a new project transaction governance structure of EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) + JV (Joint Venture). Secondly, there are two levels of governance in hydropower megaprojects, namely, project transaction governance and top-level governance. The former mainly deals with the relationship between the project company and main construction market bodies, which is similar to the general construction projects. The latter mainly deals with the relationship between the government and the project company. Thirdly, the development of hydropower megaproject governance is a system engineering, and it is necessary to pay attention to the coordinated development of project transaction governance and top-level governance systems. Whatever the project transaction governance was started or the top-level governance was formed, it was affected by many factors. The introduction of project transaction governance is not simply the implementation of project bidding and contract management, but also involves the cultivation of construction market by the government and transaction planning by the project company. For hydropower megaprojects, due to their public project nature, large-scale investment and great social impact, construction funds and resettlement are often the bottleneck problems in project implementation. Therefore, the top-level governance has a profound impact on project transaction governance. Lastly, the development process of hydropower megaproject governance is also a process to promote the better combination of efficient market and promising government. In 1982, China's hydropower development introduced project transaction governance, which improved the project implementation efficiency. After about ten years, the project top-level governance gradually formed, which clarified the role of the government in the development of hydropower megaprojects and ensured the implementation efficiency. In 2015, on the basis of constantly summarizing the experience of project transaction governance, a new project transaction governance structure EPC+JV was created, which further improved the project implementation efficiency. This paper puts forward main directions of China's hydropower megaproject governance.
The main contribution of this paper is that it summarized and revealed the successful experience and basic regularity of 40-year hydropower megaproject governance in China, and put forward the further development path of hydropower megaproject governance for the reference in related fields of China and other countries.
(The author is a professor at the Business School, Hohai University)
The research result “The 40 Years of Hydropower Megaproject Governance:Evolution and Prospect” was published in the Journal of Management World, Issue 2, 2023.
