Longtan Hydropower Plant in Pre-Construction StagePreparations for construction of a new hydropower station on the Hongshui River in south China have been carried out as planned.Longtan hydropower station, which will be situated in Tian'e County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will have a generating capacity of 5.4 million kw. It has been listed by the state as one of the major projects aimed at speeding up development in west China. In an interview with Xinhua, Li Zhinong, deputy manager of Longtan Hydroelectric Development Co. Ltd., said that 530 million yuan (one U.S. dollar equals 8.3 yuan) would be raised this year to finance the pre-stage construction. The preparatory construction included building two highways with a combined length of 95 km connecting the construction site to the outside world, transport facilities, water and power supply works inside the construction site, as well as facilities to store construction materials. By late July, 199 million yuan of the funds required had been paid and 133 million yuan had been spent on construction. Building of the two highways has already finished. Li said that other jobs also needed completing including, relocating residents from the reservoir area, acquiring land, raising funds, in addition to constructing facilities for transport, water and power supply inside the construction site, as well as works to store construction materials in the second half of the year. Longtan hydropower station is one of several key power plants that are planned to be built to utilize hydroelectric resources on the Hongshui River. Planning and prospecting of the project began in 1958. |
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