The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's
top industry planning body, has given its in-principle approval for
what will be the nation's third largest hydropower station.
The Baihetan hydropower station on Jinsha River, an upstream
branch of the Yangtze River, would be the third biggest behind the
Three Gorges project and the Xiluodu power station.
The planned power station will be situated on the lower reaches
of the Jinsha between the borders of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwest China.
"We have been studying the feasibility of constructing a plant
on the river for years," said Jin Changjiang, a spokesman for the
China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC), which is pitching
for the contract to build the power station.
The station would have an installed capacity of 12,000 MW
(megawatts) and an average annual power output of 56 billion
kilowatt hours, according to a company statement.
It would complement three other hydropower stations on the lower
reaches of the Jinsha, Xiluodu, Wudongde and Xiangjiaba.
On completion, the four hydropower stations together will have
the capacity to produce twice the amount of electricity as the
Three Gorges project.
CTGPC started the construction of Xiluodu hydropower station,
China's second largest at the end of last year.
With an installation capacity of about 12,600 MW, the Xiluodu
station is expected to stem water flow along the Jinsha in
2007.
The first generating unit will be installed in 2012, with the
entire project to be completed by 2015.
The project will cost 50.3 billion yuan (US$6.3 billion). It is
expected to bring in about 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) in
annual revenue to Sichuan Province when it is completed, said Wang
Huaichen, vice-governor of the province.
Construction of the four hydropower stations is part of China's
West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project, which aims to
transfer power from the water-rich southwest to the
electricity-thirsty east.
"The four hydropower projects have been launched after several
years of preparation in terms of technical planning, environmental
protection and the relocation of thousands of residents in the
construction areas," said Li Yong'an, general manager of CTGPC.
Li said that besides electricity power supply, the four stations
would help to retain silt and so reduce sedimentation in the Three
Gorges reservoir.
They will also increase water flows during the dry season to
increase the power-generating capacity of the Three Gorges and
Gezhouba stations in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The total installed capacity of China's electricity generating
plants reached 508 GW (gigawatts) at the end of last year, an
increase of 14.9 percent from 2004, according to sources with the
China Electricity Council, an industry association for power
producers.
The figure is expected to exceed 1,000 GW within 15 years, which
will help maintain supply to the fast-growing economy, industry
analysts said.
The Chinese government has vowed to use renewable energy to
supply 15 percent of the nation's energy needs by 2020, compared
with the current level of seven percent.
At the start of this year, China put into effect its first
renewable energy law to try to reach that ambitious aim.
Compared with traditional energy sources, such as coal and oil,
China wants to fully exploit its rich hydropower reserves to obtain
cheap, renewable and cleaner energy.
Jia Jinsheng, vice-president of the China Institute of Water
Resources and Hydropower Research, told China Daily that
the country was trying to boost the portion of its energy that
comes from renewable sources, which includes water resources, to
cut reliance on coal and oil.
(China Daily June 6, 2006)