China breaks ground on what Premier Li Qiang has called the ‘project of the century’, but some fear a water conflict and ecological effects
But the project is not just about electricity and economic benefits – the stakes are far higher. Regional security, ecological stability and the future of one of Asia’s great rivers all hang in the balance.
China breaks ground on world’s largest hydropower dam in Tibet
When completed, the project will overtake the Three Gorges Dam as the world’s largest hydropower dam. It could generate three times more energy with five cascade hydropower stations – an estimated annual capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, more than Britain’s total annual power output.
It is estimated to cost around 1.2 trillion yuan (US$167 billion), dwarfing many of the biggest infrastructure undertakings in modern history at around five times the cost of the Three Gorges Dam and even more expensive than the International Space Station.
