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China may build power plants on world's highest river

By Wang Ying and Winnie Zhu | Bloomberg

China may build hydropower plants on Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo, the world’s highest major river, to meet long-term energy demand, said the country’s dominant distributor of electricity.

An initial study shows the river can accommodate hydropower stations with a total capacity of 70 gigawatts, or about 10 percent of the nation’s overall generating capacity, Shu Yinbiao, vice president of State Grid Corp. of China, said today.

The river, with an average elevation of about 4,000 metres, passes through one of the poorest regions controlled by China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer. The projects may renew criticism that the Chinese government is making plans without seeking the advice of local Tibetans, following the biggest pro-independence protests in the region last year.

“The hydropower projects will increase job opportunities in the region and boost its economy,” Niu Li, an energy official at China’s State Information Centre, said by telephone from Beijing. “The region itself may need more power as well, although the hydropower plants may affect the local environment.”

The region plans to invest 21 billion yuan ($3 billion) in 22 industrial projects, including 10 in mining, Li Xia, Tibet’s commission director, told the official Xinhua News Agency on 5 September. The projects are expected to generate revenue of 18 billion yuan and provide jobs for almost 15,600 people, the agency said.

A Chinese plan in June 2007 to spend $10 billion over five years to improve roads, buildings and railways in Tibet drew criticism that authorities were drawing up development plans without consulting locals.

Energy Demand

Yarlung Tsangpo flows eastwards across southern Tibet before breaching the Himalayas as it bends round the 7,782-metre-high Namcha Barwa. The river then enters India, where it is known as the Brahmaputra. After merging with the Ganges in Bangladesh and forming the world’s largest delta in the process, the river empties into the Bay of Bengal.

“Recently China conducted an assessment of water resources on Yarlung Tsangpo, and the study shows a section of 150 kilometres can accommodate 70 gigawatts of hydropower capacity,” Shu told reporters in Beijing.

China’s power generating capacity rose 10 percent to 792 gigawatts by the end of last year, the Beijing-based China Electricity Council, which represents the nation’s power producers, said on 5 January. Consumption increased 5.2 percent to 3.43 billion megawatt-hours.

“If built, the hydropower stations would have to transmit electricity to eastern or central China via new ultra-high voltage lines spanning at least 3,000 kilometres,” Shu said. State Grid plans to spend more than 100 billion yuan to build ultra-high voltage electricity lines over the next three to four years, he said.

Political Protests

Economic growth in Tibet halved in the first six months of 2008 after riots in its capital Lhasa last year led to a slump in tourism, consumption and output. Regional governor Jampa Phuntsok said Tibet’s economy may grow 10 percent this year after expanding 10.1 percent in 2008, Xinhua reported on 14 January.

China deployed troops in Tibet in 1950 and annexed the Himalayan region a year later. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader who fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, has campaigned for “genuine autonomy” within the framework of the People’s Republic of China. China says it peacefully liberated Tibet and saved its people from feudal serfdom.

The protests in Lhasa last year erupted on 10 March, the anniversary of the 1959 uprising, as Buddhist monks demanded an end to religious restrictions and the freeing of imprisoned colleagues.

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