China begins building largest hydropower station in Tibet

Beijing: China has started building its largest hydropower station over the Yalong river in Tibet on Monday to tap the rich water resources in the southwest of the plateau. [caption id=“attachment_1744989” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image.[/caption] The hydropower station, which straddles the Yalong River in Sichuan’s Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture, has an installed generating capacity of three gigawatts with a total reservoir capacity of 10.8 billion cubic metres, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The first generator is expected to come into service at the end of 2021 and the entire station is to be completed in 2023. The Yalong is a tributary of the Yangtze River. Its source originates from the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau in southeast Qinghai, and its confluence with the Yangtze is in Panzhihua in southwestern Sichuan. China has reported to have built about 23 dams of different sizes on the same river. China also plans to construct huge dams over the Brahmaputra river in Tibet which has raised concerns in India. A subsidiary of the State Development and Investment Corporation is in charge of the construction and management of the new hydropower station over Yalong river, Xinhua reported. The hydropower station is among a string of hydroelectric installations that have been built or will be built along the Yalong River. They are planned to supply electric power to China’s southwest regions as well as eastern areas. PTI