Over Heating

The report highlights the growing vulnerability of the power sector in South and Southeast Asia to water-related risks, noting that 74 GW of existing and planned capacity for major power companies is located in water-scarce or stressed areas. It argues that while regulatory protections have historically shielded shareholders from the financial impact of water-related outages, these protections may become unsustainable as climate change and demographic pressures intensify water shortages. The document also notes a trade-off between water mitigation and carbon emissions, as technologies like dry cooling reduce water dependency but increase carbon emissions per unit of power output.

• A significant portion of power capacity in South and Southeast Asia is situated in high-risk areas, with 74 GW—representing over half of the existing and planned capacity for major power companies—located in regions considered water scarce or stressed.
• In India, the trend toward building in high-risk areas is particularly acute, with 79% of new capacity slated for areas already identified as water scarce or stressed, specifically affecting companies such as NTPC, Tata Power, and Reliance Infrastructure.
• There is a technical conflict between reducing water dependency and reducing carbon emissions; for example, dry cooling systems for thermal power can eliminate freshwater needs but result in higher carbon emissions per unit of power due to efficiency losses.
• Historically, the financial impact of water-related load losses and outages in South and Southeast Asia has been limited because of heavy government support, but these shareholder protections may become too costly to maintain as water scarcity increases.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Over Heating. https://www.wri.org/research/over-heating

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Over Heating. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/over-heating.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Over Heating |url=https://www.wri.org/research/over-heating |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendover, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Over Heating}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/over-heating}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }