(TibetanReview.net, Mar02’26) – China has just switched on a new giant hydroelectric power station in eastern Tibet that could generate about 11 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year. The Lianghekou hydropower plant now ranks as the PRC’s highest-altitude mega hydropower station, with a dam almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower and a power output of 3,000 megawatts, reported the scmp.com Mar 1.
The hydropower plant is also part of an ongoing, 4.2-GW hybrid project, the world’s largest pumped hydro energy storage facility which China is about to complete. The final aim is to combine large dams, solar farms, wind parks and pumped storage for a new demonstration zone in the area.
Meanwhile, the report cited officials as saying the hydropower project could cut raw coal use by more than 13 million tons and avoid about 21 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, compared with equivalent coal generation.
Lianghekou sits on the main stem of the Yalong River in Yajiang County (Tibetan: Nyagchu Dzong), within the Garze (Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, formerly part of eastern Tibet’s Kham province but now part of Sichuan Province of the PRC. The Yalong is a key tributary of the Yangtze River and one of China’s most important hydropower corridors, the report noted.
The dam rises about 295 metres and holds back a reservoir designed to store roughly 10.8 billion cubic metres of water. Construction began in 2014 and the final turbine was connected to the grid in Mar 2022, after an investment of around 66.5 billion yuan, roughly 10.5 billion US dollars, the report noted.
The dam project entailed the relocation of over 4,900 residents during its construction, according to a report cited by a Wikipedia report.
The water from the dam does more than spin turbines, with the station helping to regulate flows for a chain of downstream dams, which boosts overall power generation and reduces flood risk in the wider Yangtze basin, the report noted.
Hydropower plants like Lianghekou are sometimes described as the “anchor” of the grid. Unlike solar farms that rely on sunshine or turbines that wait for wind, a big dam can usually deliver power at any hour, then ramp up or down as demand changes, the report noted.
The report cited Chinese planners as saying the station’s 11 billion kilowatt hours of annual output will support economic hubs such as the Chengdu Chongqing region and help stabilize power supplies in Sichuan, a province that has struggled with summer blackouts during heat waves.
***
The project is also part of a wider clean energy buildout along the Yalong. The developer, Yalong River Hydropower Development Company Ltd., is stated to aim to turn the basin into a massive demonstration zone that combines large dams, solar farms, wind parks and pumped storage.
Lianghekou is already working hand in hand with one of the world’s largest high-altitude solar plants. About 50 kilometres away, the Kela photovoltaic project, also located in eastern Tibet’s Yalong River Basin, adds one gigawatt of solar capacity and can produce around two billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
During bright, dry months when reservoirs are relatively low, the solar plant picks up the slack. In the rainy season, when the river is roaring, hydropower does most of the heavy lifting and the dam can dial back to accommodate changes in solar output, the report noted.
The report cited a recent study of the Yalong basin as saying solar tends to peak in the dry season while hydropower peaks in the wet season, creating a natural seasonal “handshake” between the two technologies.
Lianghekou can therefore act a bit like giant water battery, storing energy in the form of water when solar and wind are plentiful and releasing it when the sun sets, the wind drops, or millions of people arrive home and switch on lights, stoves and phone chargers at once.
***
Researchers who evaluated the “water footprint” of nineteen hydropower stations on the Yalong are stated to have found that the basin’s projects use water more efficiently than many dams worldwide and that overall development has not pushed river flows beyond environmental limits, at least from that specific perspective.
This was apparently stated in view of the fact that other scientists warn that cascades of dams have changed flow patterns and disrupted fish habitats along parts of the river, reducing what they call river connectivity.
Social costs are also significant. Building Lianghekou involved relocating nearly five thousand residents from the future reservoir area, a pattern seen at many mega dams. How those communities fare over time is part of the real sustainability test, well beyond the engineering drawings, the report noted.