China approves the building of world’s largest dam in Tibet, raising serious ecological, geostrategic concerns

(TibetanReview.net, Dec26’24) –The Chinese government has approved the construction of a hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Dec 25, giving no information on its name, power generation capacity, budget, project duration, and numerous other essential details. However, it is now understood that the approval is for the building of the world’s largest hydropower dam – in fact, with over three times the power generation capacity of the current world’s largest, also built by China.

When completed, the project is expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually, which would be over three times more than that generated by the world’s largest dam, the Three Gorges, which has a capacity of 88.2 billion kWh.

Total investment in the dam, located in the lower reaches of the river, close to India’s border, could exceed 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion), which would dwarf any other single infrastructure project on the planet, noted the scmp.com Dec 26.

Compared to this, the cost of building the Three Gorges dam was 254.2 billion yuan ($34.83 billion), noted Reuters Dec 26.

The Yarlung Tsangpo flows across the Tibetan Plateau, carving out the deepest canyon on Earth and covering a staggering vertical difference of 7,667 metres (25,154 feet), before reaching India, where it is known as the Brahmaputra.

Authorities have not indicated how many people the Tibet project would displace and how it would affect the local ecosystem, one of the richest and most diverse on the plateau, said the Reuters report.

But according to Chinese officials, hydropower projects in Tibet, which they say hold more than a third of the PRC’s hydroelectric power potential, would not have a “major” impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies.

The Xinhua report said the dam will “play a major role in meeting China’s carbon goals and boosting regional development.”

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Nevertheless, to downstream India and Bangladesh, the dam will be a potential hydrological weapon of mass devastation wielded by China. Both have raised concerns about the dam, with the project potentially altering not only the local ecology but also the flow and course of the river downstream.

Massive flooding could submerge major cities and regions across Northeast India and Bangladesh if China completes its Yarlung Dam project and releases water, indiatodayne.in Dec 26 cited Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu as warning Dec 26.

The Yarlung Tsangpo enters India through Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims belongs to it on the basis of its annexation Tibet through armed invasion and occupation in the middle of the last century.

India plans to build an 11,000 MW Siang Multipurpose Project as a flood control, water security, and power generation project. Otherwise, “Pasighat, Guwahati and even Bangladesh will face devastating floods if China releases stored water from their dam,” Khandu has said.

Besides, “this is crucial for national security and to prevent our river from drying up,” Khandu has stressed.

While villagers in the Siang region protest potential displacement and ecological damage, state leadership maintains that the project is essential to prevent China from potentially wielding water as a strategic weapon, the report said.

China has already commenced hydropower generation on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo. And it is planning more projects upstream.

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