China to build world’s largest hydropower dam in Tibet

Concerns about movement of Tibetan communities and negative environmental effects are sparked by China’s approval of the design of what will be the largest hydropower dam in the world.

The Yarlung Tsangpo River bridge, which will be located in the lower Yarlung Tsangpo river, has the potential to produce three times more energy than the nation’s largest electricity flower, Three Gorges Dam.

The development has been described as” a safe project that prioritizes ecological protection,” according to Chinese state media, saying it will boost local prosperity and help to achieve Beijing’s goals for climate neutrality.

Human rights groups and authorities, nevertheless, have raised concerns about the developer’s knock-on results.

Concerns are raised that the dam’s construction, which was first announced in late 2020, could drastically alter the Tibetan Plateau’s ecosystems, which are among the richest and most diversified, and cause displacement of local communities.

According to reports, the Namcha Barwa mountain’s at least four 20-kilometer-long tunnels would need to be drilled to divert the Yarlung Tsangpo, Tibet’s longest river ,’s movement.

Taiwanese officials have emphasized that the job won’t have a significant impact on the environment, but they haven’t specified how many people it will displaced. 1. 4 million people had to be resettled because of the Three Valleys hydropower dam.

Researchers and officials have also raised concerns that the bridge might enact measures to control or distract the flow of the trans-border valley, which flows southward into India’s Assam and Arunachal Pradesh state and onward into Bangladesh.

A 2013 review published by the Lowy Institute, an Australian-based think tank, noted that” power over these streams ]in the Tibetan Plateau] properly gives China a stranglehold on India’s business”.

A senior American authorities official told Reuters that the country was considering the construction of a sizable hydropower dam and reservoir” to lessen the negative effects of the Chinese pond projects.”

China’s foreign government has recently addressed India’s concerns regarding the proposed reservoir, declaring in 2020 that it has a “legitimate right” to dam the river and has taken into account any effects that might occur inland.

In an effort to use the water’s energy as a source of renewable energy, China has constructed several electricity stations along the Yarlung Tsangpo over the past ten years. One section of the river, which flows through the deepest canyon on Earth, falls 2, 000 meters in less than 50 kilometers, giving the valley a significant chance to produce electricity.

The water’s spectacular terrain, but, even poses big engineering challenges- and this latest dam is by far China’s largest and most idealistic to date.

The site of the growth is located along an earthquake-prone geological disk limit. Previous research by Chinese researchers revealed concerns that the rough and narrow gorge’s considerable excavation and construction may increase the risk of landslides.

A top engineer from the Sichuan Provincial Geological Bureau stated in 2022 that “earthquake-induced landslides and mud-rock moves are frequently excessive and will also cause a significant threat to the project.”

The project could cost as much as a trillion yuan ($ 127bn, £109.3bn ) according to estimates by the Chongyi Water Resources bureau.