• 3 dam.jpg

3 dam.jpg (Photo : The Daily Star)

The first generating unit of the 9.6-billion-yuan ($1.5 billion) Zangmu Hydropower Station went into operation in the afternoon of Nov. 23, according to China.org.cn. Five other generating units are due for completion no later than next year.

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The dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River will be 116 meters high when completed next year and will have a total generating capacity of 510,000 kilowatts.

"The hydropower station will solve Tibet's power shortage, especially in the winter," Liu Xiaoming, speaking for the State Grid's Tibet Electric Power Co., told the Chinese news site.

Tibet's per capita electricity consumption last year was slightly over 1,000 kilowatt-hours, less than a third of the national average, according to official statistics.

The Zangmu Hydropower Station is designed to generate 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year and will have a total installed capacity of 510,000 kilowatts upon completion. According to Tibet's local authorities, the region's installed power generating capacity was just 1.48 million kilowatts as of October.

Losang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibetan regional government, said that "the hydroplant is a good example of clean energy development."

Accounting for nearly 30 percent of China's water power resources, Tibet has annual water resources totaling 448.2 billion cubic meters which can potentially power resources reaching 201.36 million kilowatts.

India previously aired its concern about China's damming of the Yarlung Zangbo river (called the Brahmaputra river there), since it serves as a lifeline to some of India's remote, farm-dependent northeastern states.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters: "The hydropower stations China builds will not affect the flood prevention and ecological system of downstream areas."

Tibet's regional government has also been striving to protect the environment throughout construction of the project. According to Bo Lunzhang, an official with the regional environmental protection bureau, "the Yarlung Zangpo River requires a much higher protection standard than any other rivers in China, and the experience of Zangmu station may be learned by other hydropower projects in Tibet."