Officials in China have greenlit the construction of the largest hydroelectric dam in the world just eight miles from the Indian border, on the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet. This project is estimated to cost $137 billion to create and will generate an impressive 290 TWh of electricity annually almost three times the amount generated by the world’s current record holder, the Three Gorges Dam. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, centered on renewable energy and pollution reduction, made the dam a key part of the Gulf province.
Due to the steep gradient and powerful flow of the river, hydropower generation at this site should prove to be ideal. The Yarlung Zangbo descends 25,152 feet (7,667 meters) from Tibet’s Angsi Glacier to India as the Brahmaputra River. This drop is so dramatic that it affords an unprecedented amount of energy potential, especially in a 31-mile stretch beginning near the Namcha Barwa mountain, with a drop of 6,562 feet. In this case, the dam will need engineering especially 12.5-mile-long tunnels to reroute the flow of an annual 70,600 cubic feet per second of river flow into three Olympic-sized pools per second.
If undertaken, the Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric Project would be entirely different from any global benchmarks. The Three Gorges Dam is just 95-112 TWh a year, whereas the Grand Coulee Dam in the US pours out 20 TWh a year. In contrast, the Hoover Dam generates only 4.2 TWh. The new dam could pump enough to power around 300 million people a real energy revolution for China.
But the project isn’t all hugs and kisses. The risks are huge, and much is still unknown about the region’s own seismic activity and the massive engineering challenges. India downstream has also raised fears its flow and ecological balance might be disrupted by the dams.
No construction timeline has been announced and Chinese officials say they’ve conducted thorough geological studies to ensure safety. If it is successful, it will secure China’s dominance in renewable energy while highlighting geoplasticity associated with both shared natural resources.
