China has approved the construction of a giant hydropower project on Tibet's longest river that could generate three times the energy of the Three Gorges Dam, Xinhua News Agency reported on December 25.
This massive Chinese hydropower project is scheduled to be built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
China's latest mega-dam is expected to pose unprecedented engineering challenges.
The total investment in the mega-dam, which has a capacity three times that of the Three Gorges Dam, could exceed 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion), an unprecedented investment that surpasses any infrastructure project on the planet.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River flows through the Tibetan Plateau, forming the deepest canyon on Earth and traversing an elevation difference of 7,667m, before reaching India. In India, the Yarlung Tsangpo River is known as the Brahmaputra River.
The mega dam will be built in one of the rainiest areas in mainland China.
The project is expected to generate nearly 300 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year. In comparison, the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest by installed capacity, is designed to produce 88.2 billion kWh of electricity.
Originating from the glaciers of western Tibet, the Yarlung Tsangpo River reaches an altitude of nearly 5,000m above sea level, making it the highest river in the world, flowing through the Himalayas.
The river plunges 2,700m through what is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon - a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US. The river's steep descent is particularly suitable for generating hydroelectric power.
According to Yan Zhiyong, Chairman of the Power Construction Corporation of China, shared in 2021, the mega dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River is mainly built to provide energy for China's green future.
During the construction of the Three Gorges Dam - China's largest hydroelectric dam to date - more than 1.4 million people in China were displaced. Meanwhile, the areas around the Yarlung Tsangpo are more sparsely populated than the Yangtze River.
According to the Global Times, the mega dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River will be built in Medog County, which has a population of 14,000.
