The Chinese Government has given the green light to the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River, in the western region of Tibet, which will produce 300,000 million kilowatts/hour annually, tripling the generation capacity of the famous Three Gorges Dam, also in Chinese territory. The project, proposed for years, has provoked countless protests and demonstrations by Tibetans.
The megaproject, valued at more than 1 trillion yuan (131.73 billion euros), will become the most expensive infrastructure in the worldas reported this Wednesday by the state agency Xinhua. The dam will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which runs through the Tibetan Plateau, forming the deepest canyon in the world.
This river, which adopts the name of Brahmaputra when crossing into India and Bangladesh, also has a 50-kilometer stretch in which a difference in elevation of 2,000 meters will be used for the generation of hydroelectric energy. With a hydroelectric potential that exceeds that of any other region in China, Tibet is home to a third of the country’s resources of this type.
In addition to meeting the annual electricity demand of 300 million people, the project aims to boost the development of clean energy, such as solar and wind, in the region, according to reports last year, although the first announcements from Beijing at regarding the dam date back to 2020. According to the official statement, the project aims to take a big step in China’s ecological and low-carbon energy transition.
The figures of the Three Gorges
The Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, is a monumental engineering work that not only changed the course of the Yangtze Riverbut also transformed China’s landscape and revolutionized its ability to generate renewable energy. This project, located in Hubei province, along the middle reaches of the Yangtze, It was designed not only to provide electricity, but also to mitigate the severe flooding that affected millions of people in the region.. Despite its benefits, its construction has been involved in controversy due to its social, environmental and cultural impact.
The installed capacity of the hydroelectric plant is 22,500 megawatts (MW) at maximum power and 88.2 billion kWh per year, making it the largest installation of this type in the world. To put it in perspective, the dam generates enough energy to supply entire cities like Shanghai or Chongqing. In addition, the production of electricity from hydropower has allowed China to reduce its dependence on coal, a highly polluting fossil fuel.
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