A thousand kilometers upstream from the titanesque Three Gorges Project, China continues to throw up hydropower stations on the Yangtze. The section of the Yangtze that flows between Yushu in Qinghai Province and Yibin in Sichuan Province is often called the Jinsha River and, before long, it will be dotted with hydropower developments.

Jinsha means golden sand in Chinese, and the Jinsha River is said to have produced "golden sand" since ancient times. Hydroelectric projects need to be managed in an orderly manner, residents forced to relocate need to be properly looked after, the environment needs to be protected and thought given to preventing and controlling natural disasters.

According to Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, developer of all the projects, a feasibility study for the 12 million kw Baihetan hydropower station has been completed and approved by experts. Work has also started on a feasibility study for the Wudongde hydropower station. Construction of the two hydropower stations is expected to start in 2009 and be completed by 2020.

The four hydropower stations will have a combined capacity of 38.5 million kw upon completion, said Li, but the potential hydroelectric capacity of this 2,300-km section of the Yangtze is estimated at 112 million kw.

Budgeted to cost 43.4 billion yuan (about 5.43 billion U.S. dollars), it will be completed in 2015 and will be able to generate 30.7 billion kw/hour of electricity a year.

In addition to providing power, the project will also play a role in flood control, farmland irrigation, will improve navigation and have a positive effect on the environment.

Electricity generated by hydropower stations on the Jinsha River will mainly be sold to China's eastern, southern and central regions.

Statistics show that Chinese rivers could generate 540 million kw of hydroelectric power capacity. Currently, only one fifth of the total is being exploited, as compared with three fifths in developed nations. By 2020, the country will have tapped 46 percent of its hydropower resources and raised capacity to 250 million kw.

Source:佚名