Chinese Premier Li Qiang has announced the start of construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant, which will be located on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
The value of the hydroelectric power plant is estimated at around 170 billion dollars, according to media reports.
Li emphasized that this is a “project of the century.”
The hydroelectric plant, which will consist of five cascade stations, will be located in the lower course of the Yarlung Zangbo River and could affect millions of people downstream in India and Bangladesh.
Li stated that special emphasis needs to be placed on environmental protection in order to prevent damage to the ecosystem, according to the Chinese media.
It is estimated that the dam will have a capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and will cover energy demand in Tibet and the rest of China.
That is almost three times more than the 88.2 billion kilowatt-hours capacity of the currently largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, the “Three Gorges“ in central China. That hydroelectric plant is so large that it slowed the Earth’s rotation by 0.06 microseconds.
Non-governmental organizations, including the International Campaign for Tibet, warn that the new dam will irreversibly damage the Tibetan Plateau and that millions of people downstream will face “serious disruptions to their lives.“
