Multi-dimensional assessment of socioeconomic impacts of hydropower development—A case in the Upper Chuan River

The positive role of hydropower in climate change adaption is well accepted by the international community and has been highlighted many times, while the understanding of its impacts on socioeconomic development remains at the stage of rough estimation and qualitative description. The application of a multi-regional CGE model in this paper provides an effective tool for quantitatively assessing the socioeconomic impacts of hydropower development, reflecting its positive functions. This case study on the Upper Chuan River details the steps of model development, including impact mechanism analysis, regional delimitation, macro closure setting, shock selection, and database preparation. The results show the enormous economic benefits of hydropower development using various indicators such as consumption, investment, GDP, employment, and income. The study indicates that hydropower development is a win-win energy development mode which can help to realize the integration of sustainable development and climate change mitigation. Finally, potential improvements to the model are discussed.