China Aims to Have World's Largest Hydropower Capacity

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 31, 2003

China Aims to Have World's Largest Hydropower Capacity

China is speeding up the exploitation of hydroelectricity in its western region to make the world's largest hydropower generating capacity.

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China is speeding up the exploitation of hydroelectricity in its western region to make the world's largest hydropower generating capacity.

The project to build a hydropower station with a generating capacity of 3.6 million kw on the Yalong River, in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, passed an evaluation by experts from the State Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday.

China has also launched five projects to build large hydropower stations in the west, such as on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, the Hongshui River, the Lancang-MekongRiver and the Dadu River, in the past two years.

The nation's hydropower generating capacity would increase by at least 10 million kw annually by 2005, said Ma Hongqi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering on Wednesday.

By the year 2010, China would have a generating capacity of hydropower of 125 million kw, the highest in the world, he said.

The country plans to exploit 40 percent of its hydropower resources by 2015, according to a government plan.

The hydropower station named Jinping, the first of five stations on the Yalong River, will have a dam 305 meters high, claimed to be the world's highest.

With an investment of 22 billion yuan (2.66 billion US dollars),Jinping power station will play a supporting role for the Ertan hydropower station, the largest power station in Asia until it is overtaken by the Three Gorges Project which is due to be completedin 2009.

China generated 1.654 trillion kwh of electricity last year, the second most in the world, with a generating capacity of 350 million kw.

However, hydroelectricity accounted only for 24 percent of the country's total power generating capacity in the year 2000.

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