中國將在西藏建造世界最大水力發電廠

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China to build world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet

Reuters

Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Nicholas Yong

Wed, December 25, 2024 at 9:02 p.m. PST·2 min read

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has approved the construction of what will be 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.

The dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, according to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp of China in 2020.

That would more than triple the 88.2 billion kWh designed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest, in central China.

The project will play a major role in meeting China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, stimulate related industries such as engineering, and create jobs in Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

A section of the Yarlung Zangbo falls a dramatic 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) within a short span of 50 km (31 miles), offering huge hydropower potential as well as unique engineering challenges.

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). This included the resettling of the 1.4 million people it displaced and was more than four times the initial estimate of 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.

But according to Chinese officials, hydropower projects in Tibet, which they say hold more than a third of China's hydroelectric power potential, would not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies

India and Bangladesh have nevertheless raised concerns about the dam, with the project potentially altering not only the local ecology but also the flow and course of the river downstream.

The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra river as it leaves Tibet and flows south into India's Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and finally into 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.

($1 = 7.2989 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Translation

中國將在西藏建造世界最大水力發電廠

北京（路透社） - 中國已批准建造世界上最大的水力發電廠大壩，在青藏高原東緣啟動了一項雄心勃勃的項目，該項目可能會影響印度和孟加拉國下游數百萬人。

根據中國電力建設集團公司2020年預計，該大壩將位於雅魯藏布江下游，年發電量將達3,000億度。

這將相比使位於中國中部的目前世界上最大的三峽大壩的設計容量882億千瓦時多了三倍多。

根據官方新華社週三報道，該計劃將為實現中國的碳達峰和碳中和目標發揮重要作用，刺激工程等相關產業，並為西藏創造就業機會。

雅魯藏布江的一段在短短 50 公里（31 英里）的突然驟跌2,000  公尺（6,561 英尺），提供了巨大的水力發電潛力，同時也帶來了獨特的工程挑戰。

包括工程成本在內的大壩建設費用預計也將超過耗資 2,542 億元人民幣（348.3 億美元）, 使三峽大壩顯得不那麼重大。其中包括140萬流離失所人口的安置，是最初估計的570億元人民幣的四倍多。

當局尚未表明西藏計劃將導致多少人流離失所，以及它將如何影響當地的生態系統，這是高原上最豐富、最多樣化的生態系統之一。

但中國官員表示這些西藏水力發電計劃蘊藏著中國水力發電潛力的三分之一以上，是不會對環境或下游供水產生重大影響。

儘管如此，印度和孟加拉還是對大壩提出了擔憂，因為該計劃不僅可能改變當地的生態，而且可能改變下游河流的流量和河道。

雅魯藏布江離開西藏，向南流入印度阿魯納恰爾邦(Arunachal Pradesh)和阿薩姆邦(Assam)，最後流入孟加拉國，成為布拉馬普特拉河(Brahmaputra river)。

中國已經在從西藏西流向東的雅魯藏布江上游開始水力發電。它正在計劃更多的上游項目。

             So, China has approved the construction of what will be 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. I am wondering how neighboring countries will react to this project.