(TibetanReview.net, Jul09’22) – China said Jul 8 that it was beginning to build in the eastern Tibetan prefecture of Garze (or Ganzi, Tibetan: Kardze), now part of China’s Sichuan Province, a photovoltaic power station which is a part of a hydro-solar hybrid power station with the world’s highest installed capacity. The current world’s highest capacity hydro-solar power station is in another part of Chinese ruled Tibetan territory: Qinghai Province.
The Kela photovoltaic power station in the prefecture’s Yajiang (Nyagchu) County has an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts and will connect eventually to the Lianghekou hydropower plant, which was put into operation in March with a total installed capacity of 3 million kilowatts, making it the largest hydro-solar hybrid power station in the world, said China’s official cgtn.com of China global Television Network Jul 8.
Since the power generation of photovoltaic power stations fluctuates between day and night and with weather events, the hydropower component helps to regulate any instability in the photovoltaic power supply to provide stable and high-quality clean electricity for the power grid, the report said.
The station will reportedly cover an area of about 16 square kilometers, equivalent to 80 Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” National Stadiums, and is expected to be put into operation next year.
It was not clear whether this will involve any relocation of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen. Kela is the name of the Township in which the station is being built.
“The power station will generate 2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually, equivalent to over 600,000 tonnes of standard coal, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1.6 million tonnes,” Qi Ningchun, chairman of the Yalong River Hydropower Development Co. Ltd., has said.
The highest capacity hydro-solar power station currently in operation is the Longyangxia hydro-solar power station, which was certified by the Guinness World Records on Jun 26, the report said. Located in Gonghe (Serchen) County of Hainan (Tsolho) Prefecture, Qinghai Province, it has a total capacity of 2.13 million kilowatts, with 850,000 kilowatts of solar power and 1.28 million kilowatts of hydropower, according to the report and other sources.