BEIJING – China has given the green light for the construction of what will become the world’s largest hydropower dam, embarking on an ambitious project on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau. This massive undertaking could have significant implications for millions of people downstream in India and Bangladesh.
The dam, to be situated in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, is expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, according to a 2020 estimate by the Power Construction Corporation of China. This output would surpass the current world’s largest hydropower station, the Three Gorges Dam in central China, which has a designed capacity of 88.2 billion kWh.
The project is pivotal in meeting China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, stimulating related industries like engineering, and creating jobs in Tibet, as reported by the official Xinhua news agency on December 25. A dramatic section of the Yarlung Zangbo River offers significant hydropower potential with a 2,000-meter drop within 50 kilometers, presenting unique engineering challenges.
The projected costs for the dam, including engineering expenses, are expected to exceed those of the Three Gorges Dam, which amounted to 254.2 billion yuan (S$47.3 billion). This figure includes the resettlement of 1.4 million people and was over four times the initial estimate of 57 billion yuan.
While Chinese authorities have yet to disclose the number of people who may be displaced by the Tibet project or its impact on the local ecosystem, they maintain that hydropower projects in Tibet, which holds over a third of China’s hydroelectric potential, will not significantly affect the environment or downstream water supplies.
Nonetheless, India and Bangladesh have raised concerns regarding the dam’s potential to alter the local ecology and the flow and course of the river downstream. The Yarlung Zangbo River becomes the Brahmaputra as it flows into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and eventually into Bangladesh.
China has already commenced hydropower generation on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo and is planning additional projects upstream.