China will build a major hydroelectric project on Tibet’s Brahmaputra River and a proposal for this has been clearly presented in the 14th Five-Year Plan to be implemented starting next year, official media quoted on Sunday the director of a Chinese company in charge of build the dam as it says. Yan Zhiyong, chairman of the China Power Construction Corporation, said that China “will implement the exploitation of hydroelectric power on the Yarlung Zangbo River (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra) and the project could serve to maintain water resources and domestic security. “, The Global Times reported.
At a conference on Thursday, Yan said the project was clearly laid out in the proposals to formulate the country’s XIV Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and its long-term goals through 2035 made by the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of China ( CCP), cited an article on the WeChat account of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China on Sunday. “There is no parallel in history, it will be a historic opportunity for the Chinese hydroelectric industry,” Yan said at the conference organized to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the China Hydroelectric Engineering Society.
The fourteenth five-year plan (2021-2025) and the national economic and social development and long-term goals until the year 2035 were adopted by Plenum, a key political body of the CCP, last month. Details of the plan were expected to be released after formal ratification by the National People’s Congress (APN) early next year.
The dam proposals at Brahmaputra have raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the riparian states, and China has played down such anxieties saying it would keep their interests in mind. As a lower riparian state with considerable established user rights over transboundary river waters, the Government of India has consistently conveyed its views and concerns to the Chinese authorities and urged them to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not affected. be harmed by any activity in upstream areas.
China has already commissioned the $ 1.5 billion Zam hydroelectric plant, the largest in Tibet in 2015. On the new dam, the Global Times report says speculation about China’s planning to build a “super hydroelectric plant” In Medog County, where the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon is located, have circulated for years. Medog is the last county in Tibet that borders Arunachal Pradesh.
In his speech, Yan said that the hydroelectric development of the Yarlung Zangbo River downstream is more than a hydroelectric project. It is also significant for the environment, national security, standard of living, energy, and international cooperation. According to the report, the main stream of the Yarlung Zangbo River has the richest water resources in the Tibet Autonomous Region, around 80 million kilowatt hours (kWh), while the 50-kilometer section of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon has 70 million kWh that could be developed with a drop of 2,000 meters, which is equivalent to more than three Three Gorges power plants in Hubei province.
Tibet has about 200 million kWh of water resources, which represents 30 percent of the total in China. The exploitation of hydroelectric power of 60 million kWh on the Yarlung Zangbo River could provide 300 billion kWh of clean, renewable and carbon-free electricity per year. The project will play an important role in realizing China’s goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, he said.
“It is a project for national security, including water resources and national security,” he said, noting that the project will also facilitate cooperation with South Asia. The hydroelectric power station could generate revenue of 20 billion yuan ($ 3 billion) annually for the Tibet Autonomous Region, he said. India and China established the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to transboundary rivers.
According to existing bilateral MOUs, China provides hydrological information on the Brahmaputra River and the Sutlej River to India during flood seasons. Under the agreement, China provides data for the Brahmaputra river flood season between May 15 and October 15 each year.
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