Yichang, Jun 12, 2006 -- BBC Monitoring
A dozen new hydropower plants, with a combined installed
capacity totalling 90.2m kW, will be built on the upper Yangtze
River catchment area in the next 20 years, a hydropower
development official has said.
The projects will be built on the upper Yangtze
stretch known as the Jinsha River, and the Yalong and Dadu Rivers,
two tributaries of the Yangtze, the longest river of China, said
Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Three Gorges
Project Development Corporation. Cao said the combined installed
capacity of the planned hydropower plants was almost five times
that of the massive Three Gorges project, the world's largest
hydropower project expected to be completed on the middle reaches
of the Yangtze in 2008, one year ahead of schedule. The installed
capacity of each hydropower plant planned to be built on the
Jinsha, Yalong and Dadu ranged from 1m to 10m kW. Construction of
the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba hydropower plants with a combined
installed capacity of 18.6m kW has already begun on the Jinsha
River. Preparations have begun for building a 3.3m kW hydropower
station on the Dadu River and another two power stations with
combined installed capacity of eight million kilowatts on the
Yalong River. Sichuan Province, through which the three rivers
flow, would be able to send 187.9 billion kilowatt-hours of
electricity to eastern China regions to relieve shortages. China
boasts the greatest hydropower resources in the world, with a
theoretical potential of 680m kW.
Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1221 gmt 12 Jun
06
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