WRI_Overheating-cover.indd

The report examines the intersection of water scarcity and power generation in South and Southeast Asia, arguing that while regulatory protections have historically shielded shareholders, increasing water stress driven by climate change and demographic pressure creates material financial risks. It introduces a risk exposure framework based on business models, water dependency, and water security, and highlights that a significant portion of existing and planned capacity in the region is located in water-stressed areas.

• A substantial amount of power capacity in the region is located in high-risk areas, with 74 GW—over half of the existing and planned capacity for major listed power companies—situated in water scarce or stressed regions.
• India is identified as the most vulnerable country in the study; 79% of its new power capacity is planned for areas already classified as water scarce or stressed.
• Climate change is expected to exacerbate water scarcity through higher evaporation rates, the recession of glaciers (particularly the Himalayan glaciers affecting the Ganges River system), and shifting precipitation patterns that will likely make wet seasons wetter and dry seasons drier in Southeast Asia.
• Water-related risks can lead to direct financial losses through reduced revenues from load losses or outages during droughts and heat waves, as well as increased costs of goods sold (COGS) due to the need for temporary water supply measures.
• The financial impact of water scarcity on project viability is significant; an HSBC analysis indicates that a 12-month delay in commercial operation due to water permitting issues can drop the internal rate of return (IRR) by nearly 150 basis points, and a 5% drop in the plant load factor can result in a nearly 75 basis point drop in project IRR.
• While regulatory protections and power purchase agreements (PPAs) currently minimize shareholder risk by allowing cost pass-throughs, these protections may become unsustainable or be voided if plants fail to meet utilization requirements due to water shortages.
• There is a critical tradeoff between water use and carbon emissions; advanced cooling systems like dry cooling reduce freshwater dependency but increase carbon emissions per unit of power due to efficiency losses, while carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies increase the water intensity of power production.

APA

World Resources Institute (2010). WRI_Overheating-cover.indd. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/over_heating_asia.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. WRI_Overheating-cover.indd. 2010. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/over_heating_asia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=WRI_Overheating-cover.indd |date=2010 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/over_heating_asia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2010wrioverheatingcoverindd, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{WRI\_Overheating-cover.indd}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/pdf/over_heating_asia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }