Fig. 2: Impacts of hydropower expansion on the energy system costs and sediment supply in the Mekong.
From: Strategizing renewable energy transitions to preserve sediment transport integrity
a, Trade-off between sediment supply and energy system costs. Each marker represents adding one more dam in the hydropower portfolio along the optimal sequence. Here we only show the trade-off for the most ambitious scenario, where transboundary transmissions are optimized and the 1.5 °C-compatible decarbonization target is met. The dashed line separates low-impact versus high-impact hydropower plants with a threshold of 5% reduction in annual sediment supply compared to the status quo. b,c, Spatial distribution of sediment flux along the river network for two selected hydropower development portfolios: low-impact (L1; b) and full-development (F0; c). Uncertainties related to Fig. 2 can be found in Extended Data Fig. 2 and Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2.
