China Begins Building Of World’s Largest Hydropower Dam

Final Up to date on: twenty first July 2025, 11:57 pm

Hydro energy is nice for the planet as a result of it makes emissions free electrical energy. A lot of nations rely closely on hydro to offer low carbon electrical energy for his or her industrial base. Sweden’s Northvolt selected a manufacturing web site for a battery manufacturing unit within the northern a part of the nation primarily as a result of it had entry to a plentiful provide of low-cost hydro energy. Norway makes use of hydro to energy a lot of its financial system so it could actually promote its considerable fossil gas sources to others. A few of that hydro energy is used to make emissions free hydrogen for business purposes.

Quebec has a lot hydro energy accessible, it provides massive quantities of it to neighbors in New England. The Grand Coulee Dam within the state of Washington is the biggest provider of hydro electrical energy within the nation.

Now China has begun development of the world’s largest hydro energy mega dam, which Chinese language premier Li Qiang calls the “challenge of the century.” It’s being constructed on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet and has been within the planning levels because it was first introduced in 2020 as half China’s 14th 5 12 months plan. The Yarlung Tsangpo dam will harness the facility of the water within the river because it drops 2 km (1.2 miles) over 50 km (30 mi).

The location of the dam is in a canyon the place the river makes a virtually 180 diploma bend. The plan requires diverting the river into tunnels blasted by way of the rock close to that U flip. The tunnels will exit under that bend, the place generators will harness the facility of the falling water.

Tibet Hydro Undertaking Stirs Protests

Not everyone seems to be blissful concerning the new dam. The river flows by way of elements of India and Bangladesh, the place officers and native teams are involved about how the dam will have an effect on the movement of water by way of their nations. Not solely can a dam produce electrical energy, it could actually additionally cease or gradual the movement of water and even divert it altogether.

The Yarlung Tsangpo turns into the Brahmaputra river because it flows south into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and at last into Bangladesh because the Jamuna river. Damming it may have an effect on tens of millions of individuals downstream. “China can all the time weaponize this water when it comes to blocking it or diverting it,” Neeraj Singh Manhas, particular adviser for South Asia on the Parley Coverage Initiative, informed the BBC in January.

The Indian authorities formally registered its considerations with Beijing over the challenge in December. Throughout bilateral conferences between the Indian and Chinese language international ministers in January, Chinese language officers stated their nation doesn’t search “water hegemony.” A spokesperson for the Chinese language international ministry stated China by no means pursues “advantages for itself on the expense of its neighbors. China will proceed to take care of present change channels with downstream nations and step up cooperation on catastrophe prevention and mitigation.”

Environmental teams in Tibet are additionally sad with the deliberate dam, as they fear about what number of Indigenous folks will likely be displaced by the challenge. Different hydro energy tasks in Tibet have led to protests, that are uncommon in areas dominated by an authoritarian authorities like China’s. These protest have resulted in brutal crackdowns from authorities.

The Guardian experiences that final 12 months a whole bunch of individuals had been arrested whereas protesting in opposition to the Kamtok dam on the higher reaches of the Yangtze river. The protesters stated that dam threatened to displace hundreds of residents and submerge historic Buddhist monasteries. Earlier than the Three Gorges Dam was accomplished in 2006, an estimated 1.5 million folks had been stated to have been displaced from their properties.

Environmentalists have additionally expressed concern about wildlife within the area, in addition to the numerous tectonic shifting, extreme landslides and excessive geography the place the dam is predicted to go. The Chinese language authorities rejects the criticism, and says the challenge will stimulate jobs within the area, improve home vitality provides and spur on improvement within the renewables sector. “Particular emphasis have to be positioned on ecological conservation to forestall environmental harm,” Li stated.

Hydro Is Not Essentially Carbon Free

It doesn’t take a genius to see that whereas electrical energy from hydro electrical energy crops is freed from emissions, the dam that makes that hydro energy doable will use large quantities of vitality to create the tunnels by way of the mountains and enormous portions of concrete for the buildings the place the generators will likely be put in.  Globally, cement manufacturing creates extra carbon emissions than air journey or ocean delivery.

The Guardian experiences the brand new dam will consist of 5 cascade hydro energy stations that, mixed, will produce an estimated 300 million MWhs of electrical energy yearly. The challenge is projected to value 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion). Compared, the Three Gorges dam in China value 254.2 billion yuan ($35 billion) and generates 88.2 million MWh of electrical energy yearly. The Three Gorges dam was a giant deal when it was inbuilt 2006 nevertheless it pales compared to this newest endeavor,

China emits extra carbon dioxide annually than every other nation (the US emits probably the most carbon dioxide per capita), however can be the chief in renewable vitality amongst all nations. It manufactures extra photo voltaic panels and wind generators than any nation and in addition produces extra electrical vehicles, vans and buses than every other nation. It has a nationwide aim to carbon impartial by 2060.

Different nations say they’ll attain their aim sooner however truly are doing subsequent to nothing to realize these targets, whereas China is persistently reaching its objectives forward of schedule. At present it has tens of hundreds of hydro energy tasks unfold throughout its territory — way over every other nation.

Hydro And Local weather

Whereas hydro energy has a lot to suggest it, there’s a fraught relation between it and the Earth’s local weather. Hydro is one hundred pc reliant on an considerable movement of water — one thing that’s not assured because the world will get hotter and drier. In 2024, US hydro energy manufacturing fell significantly as a result of many rivers has much less flowing water than regular, though that development is predicted to appropriate itself this 12 months, based on the US Vitality Info Company.

There’s a connection — although not an apparent one — between hydro energy and local weather altering applied sciences referred to as geoengineering. Each look like politically benign on the floor however carry the potential for use as a technique to drawback neighboring states in instances of disaster.

China and India have had a fraught relationship for many years involving disputes alongside their greater than 2000 mile lengthy border. China is presently the world’s most populous nation, however India might quickly usurp that title, if it has not carried out so already. Any vital discount within the quantity of water flowing within the Brahmaputra river could lead on rapidly to a world incident. India, it’s possible you’ll recall, has nuclear weapons. China shouldn’t be formally a nuclear energy, however is anybody prepared to wager on that?

The one really dependable energy supply on Earth is vitality from the solar. China appears to appreciate this greater than different nations because it races to construct the biggest fleet of solar energy installations on the planet. That method, if the Yarlung Tsangpo river turns into a quiet stream as a substitute of a raging river sooner or later, it can nonetheless have an considerable provide of renewable vitality accessible.

From each perspective, China is doing extra to rid itself of the scourge of fossil fuels than every other nation — one thing the US ought to concentrate on if it nonetheless has intentions of being a number one nation on the world stage.