China has commenced hydropower generation on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, which flows from the west to the east of Tibet.
The outlay for building the dam, including engineering costs, is also expected to eclipse the Three Gorges dam, which cost 254.2 billion yuan($34.83 billion). (Representational Image/Reuters)
China has approved the construction of the world’s largest hydropower dam, kicking off an ambitious project on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau that could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh.
According to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp. of China in 2020, the dam, located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
That would surpass the 88.2 billion kWh designed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest in central China.
The project will significantly contribute to meeting China’s carbon peaking and neutrality goals, stimulating related industries such as engineering, and creating jobs in Tibet, as the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
A section of the Yarlung Zangbo falls dramatically 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) within a short 50 km (31 miles), offering colossal hydropower potential and unique engineering challenges.
The dam’s outlay, including engineering costs, is also expected to eclipse the Three Gorges Dam, which cost 254.2 billion yuan ($34.83 billion). This included resettling the 1.4 million people it displaced, more than four times the initial estimated 57 billion yuan.
Authorities have not indicated how many people the Tibet project would displace and how it would affect the local ecosystem, one of the richest and most diverse on the plateau.
However, according to Chinese officials, hydropower projects in Tibet, which they say hold more than a third of China’s hydroelectric power potential, would not significantly impact the environment or downstream water supplies.
India and Bangladesh have raised concerns about the dam, with the project potentially altering the local ecology and the flow and course of the river downstream.
The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra river as it leaves Tibet, flows south into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states, and finally enters Bangladesh.
China has already commenced hydropower generation on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, which flows from the west to the east of Tibet. It is planning more projects upstream.
