energy
China begins the construction of giant dam in Tibet
The new dam in Tibet is supposed to help China reach its climate goals. But worries grow at the lower reaches. Why the dam could provide diplomatic straps.
China started building another huge dam in Tibet. As the state news agency Xinhua reported, Prime Minister Li Qiang announced the start of construction of the project during the groundbreaking ceremony in Nyingchi, in the south of the autonomous area near the border with India.
Li also visited other large-scale construction projects in the region. China wants to transfer electricity to other areas with the dam on the Yarlung Yarlung Yarlung Tsangpo, but also win energy for the region. According to official information, Beijing expects the cost of 1.2 trillion Yuan (almost 143.8 billion euros) to build the dam consisting of five power plants.
Three times as big as three-gorge dams
The Communist Party had written the construction of the dam in its current five-year plan. Last December, Beijing finally gave the green light. The dam is to win 300 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. It would have three times as much capacity as the famous three-gorge dam on the Yangtze River and would be the largest dam in the world.
China sees the dam as a contribution to its goal of reaching the highlight of its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and becoming climate-neutral by 2060.
Worries at the lower reaches of the river
The major project already raised environmental concerns and concerned about a significant interference with nature. The project also employs the states of India and Bangladesh, which are on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo. India warned China in March to ensure that the dam does not affect the activities of the other affected states.
In any case, the dam is located near an area on which Beijing and New Delhi have been claiming for a long time. China calls the Zangnan region, in India it is called Arunachal Pradesh. The dispute over the area caused a diplomatic ice age between the two most populous countries in the world.
dpa
Source: Stern
