(TibetanReview.net, Sep01, 2018) – Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has signed an agreement on Aug 30 to supply hydro and solar power to 12 regions of China, including Beijing, Sichuan and Shanxi, reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Aug 30. The report said a clean energy transmission cooperation framework was signed between the TAR and these regions for this purpose.
China’s hydropower projects in Tibet, which involve the damming and even possible diversion of transnational rivers, has been a subject of great deal of controversy as much for their potential adverse impact on downstream countries as for their ecological devastation and socio-economic wrecking of the local Tibetan population.
Under the deal, the TAR will transmit 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy, including hydropower and solar power, to 12 provinces and municipalities of China in 2019.
The report put the TAR’s annual quantity of water resources at 448.2 billion cubic metres. It said the region’s hydropower reserves could generate 210 million kilowatts, accounting for 29 percent of the PRC’s total hydropower reserves.
The report cited authorities as saying the deal will cut coal consumption by 42 metric tons and carbon dioxide by 140 tons. It will also generate an income of more than 300 million yuan ($46 million) for the Chinese power-generating enterprises.
The report quoted Norbu Tsering, the head of Tibet Resources Bureau, as saying, “In the summer, the sunshine in Tibet is stronger and rainfall increases in the central areas, increasing hydropower and solar energy capacity. The government has decided to transmit clean energy to other provinces.”
Liu Qin, chief engineer of State Grid Cooperation of China, has called the framework agreement a further step to enhance the achievement of the “power aiding-Tibet” project, and a key measure to promote the TAR’s clean energy development.
