An integrated assessment of water-energy-food benefits from small hydropower refurbishment in rural China

Summary Small hydropower, deeply embedded in rural China, plays an important role in poverty alleviation, energy transition, and rural development. However, the integrated benefits of refurbishment remain insufficiently understood. To address this issue, this study integrates the qualitative Gioia method, a game-theory-based weighted DEMATEL model, and a multi-attribute decision-making method based on Gray Pythagorean Fuzzy Hesitant Fuzzy Sets to construct a water-energy-food integrated benefit evaluation framework. The results show that small hydropower refurbishment forms a water-energy-food integrated benefit structure characterized by water as the nexus, energy as the medium, and food as the anchor. Benefits show clear functional differentiation, with management capacity improvement, ecological flow regulation, and irrigation coordination as driver benefits; social reputation and agricultural production stability as feedback benefits; while women's participation and greenhouse gas reduction represent peripheral benefits. Evaluation cases from five regionally representative plants show that geographical context, refurbishment design, and community infrastructure affect refurbishment benefits.