China's Hydropower Dams: Ambitions and Environmental Risks

China's ambitious dam construction on the Yangtze River risks displacing communities and damaging heritage sites amid geological instability.

### China's Ambitious Hydropower Initiative: Risks and Consequences
* 🏞️  China is constructing an extensive network of dams along the Yangtze River, which is vital for its **economic goals** and supports a **fifth of the world's population**.
* 🔧  The construction of over a dozen dams in narrow canyons presents **immense logistical challenges**, particularly in an **earthquake-prone region**.
* 🏗️  The Batang Dam, costing **$31 billion**, required **10,000 workers** and **8 million cubic meters of concrete**, generating **16,000 megawatts**, more than **double the Grand Coulee Dam's output**.
* ⚡  China estimates that the Jinsha River has the potential to generate **112 gigawatts of hydropower**, which is **a quarter of the nation's current hydro capacity**.
* 🌍  The construction efforts are crucial for China's Net Zero goals, but the region's **geological instability poses significant risks** to the dams.
* 🌊  The largest dam in this initiative will reach **239 meters**, necessitating **extraordinary technology** to stabilize it against potential **landslides and earthquakes**.
* 🏛️  The environmental impact of the dams threatens Tibetan heritage, with projections of **nearly 4,000 people displaced** and significant historical sites, like the **700-year-old monastery**, at risk of destruction.
* 📉  The Chinese government faces rare protests from ethnic Tibetans, revealing the tensions between **energy ambitions and cultural preservation**, as the dams could lead to **catastrophic consequences if not managed properly**.

China is building an unprecedented network of dams along its longest river. It is part of a chain of hydropower stations being constructed in one of the most remote and inhospitable places on the planet. The rivers that start high in these mountains supply water for a fifth of the world's population, including the Yangtze River, a river that is key to China's economic ambitions. The Chinese government is building more than a dozen dams along this section of the river, but placing these dams in the narrow canyons comes with immense logistical challenges. There is an enormous amount of work being done in one of the most earthquake-prone places on Earth. The work to build these dams means entire Tibetan towns will be flooded, triggering rare protests in some of the most tightly controlled communities in China. What's happening here reveals the risks China is taking to transform its economy. It took more than 10,000 construction workers and about 8 million cubic meters of concrete to build the $31 billion Batang Dam. The dam generates

16,000 megawatts of power, more than double the amount of electricity generated by the Grand Coulee Dam, the biggest in the United States. And that's just one of the dams along the Yangtze River. China estimates the upper stretches of the river, known as the Jinsha, between the autonomous region of Tibet and Sichuan, holds enough hydropower potential to generate 112 gigawatts of power. That's a quarter of the country's current overall hydro capacity. They have an expression that says China is the center of hydropower in the world, and Southwest China is the center of China's hydropower. China is trying to work towards reaching its Net Zero goals, and building hydropower enables you to do that faster. This area has the greatest concentration of hydropower potential on the planet. What you have is a string of rivers descending from the Tibetan plateau down to low-lying regions in a really short amount of time. That kinetic energy is what can be transformed into hydropower. The problem is that where you have a lot of potential energy for hydropower

you also tend to have a lot of geological instability. So, the technology that they need in order to build things in such an unstable region is really extraordinary, and it's taking a lot of effort and is really risky. The dams in this section of the Gin Shaw are particularly vulnerable. We know the tectonic plates intersect there, so this would be one of the plates on this side, and then another one over here, and then all of these fault lines, and it's very movable. The largest dam in this Cascade is going to be 239 M high, which is taller than the Hoover Dam in the United States. This is a really tricky dam to build because this is a dam that's being built in the riverbed. They need to stabilize it by pouring rocks and concrete mix into the bottom jelly-like base of the river on the side of the dams because you also have lots of landslides, avalanches. They have had to put huge escarpments of concrete all the way out the side of the gorge, so in

this Dam um look at the sides of the dam. There's stories of concrete, and each one of those would be the size of a high-rise building up the side of each side of the cliff that needs to be concretized. The dams are being built on unstable grounds surrounded by steep mountain sides in one of Asia's most earthquake-prone areas. There were more than 100 earthquakes in 2007 alone between the Sichuan Basin and the Jinsha River, and then in 2008, there was a massive earthquake in Wan uh at the top of the Sichuan Basin, not that far from the Ginell River. That earthquake, one of the largest China has experienced in the last few hundred years, left more than 87,000 people dead. So, if an earthquake did strike the fault line along the Jinsha, it could damage all the dams on the river. If there's a large earthquake that creates something wrong with one of these dams, that dam breakage could then lead on to another dam breakage. If

that can't hold those two dams. Every time you have a dam collapse, the catastrophe gets worse and worse. But the risks linked to these dams go beyond earthquakes to threaten Tibetan Heritage sites and ancient communities in the region. This Dam, it will have a large Reservoir as well that creeps up this Valley for tens of kilometers. That means villages will be displaced. An official report on the environmental impact of the construction of the dams shows the Chinese authorities are aware of this. Beijing expects the gangar dam alone to displace nearly 4,000 people and flood five temples. The report did not specify which religious sites, but experts believe the wo Monastery, which dates back to the 13th century, will be ruined. A lot of the Tibetan monasteries were destroyed during the cultural revolution, so they lost a lot of their cultural heritage through that period. But this one managed to be saved. Within it are a series of Fresco and murals that were

painted on the walls of this monastery, so 700-year-old murals that this inundation will destroy. Leaked videos show a crowd of Tibetan protesters in a rare show of discontent attempting to stop the dam's construction. China strictly controls ethnic Tibetan areas, making it extremely difficult for information to get out. Since sending troops into the region in 1950, Beijing has directed long-running efforts to assimilate ethnic Tibetans to forge a singular national identity loyal to the Communist Party. In Tibet and Buddhist culture, monasteries are considered to be the most important, the sacred beating heart for the village. So, if you destroy a town's monastery, the town loses its focus. The Chinese government did not respond to a request for comment. The dams along the Jinsha are key to China's energy ambitions but come with substantial risks. These big dams are almost like the fast food of energy transition. They give you power, but they give it to you fast, and it has all of these negative impacts. There's big

potential here, but anything that could go wrong could have catastrophic consequences.

China’s Risky New Megadams Lie in One of the World’s Most Remote Places | WSJ

The Wall Street Journal takes you inside carefully selected stories and events in a visually captivating way so you can dig deeper into the news and insights that matter to you. 

The Wall Street Journal

China's Ambitious Dam Construction on the Yangtze River

China is building a network of dams along the Yangtze River, aiming to harness its hydropower potential to transform the economy and achieve Net Zero goals.

The construction, involving over 10,000 workers and massive concrete use, faces logistical challenges in earthquake-prone areas and is flooding entire Tibetan towns, triggering rare protests.

The upper stretches of the river are estimated to generate 112 gigawatts of power, contributing significantly to China's overall hydro capacity.

Building Dams in a Geologically Unstable Region

The Gin Shaw region is characterized by geological instability, with intersecting tectonic plates and numerous fault lines, making dam construction highly challenging and risky.

The largest dam in the Cascade is set to be 239 meters high, requiring extensive stabilization efforts due to its riverbed location and the surrounding steep mountain sides.

The area is prone to earthquakes, with over 100 recorded in 2007 alone, raising concerns about the potential for a major earthquake to damage multiple dams along the Jinsha River.

The construction of dams in Tibet poses significant risks, including the displacement of villages and the destruction of ancient heritage sites.

The Gangar dam is expected to displace nearly 4,000 people and flood five temples, with experts predicting the ruin of the 13th-century Wo Monastery and its 700-year-old murals.

The Chinese government's efforts to control and assimilate ethnic Tibetans have led to rare protests against the dam's construction, highlighting the cultural and spiritual importance of monasteries in Tibetan society.

Potential for success exists, but the possibility of failure can lead to disastrous outcomes.

The stakes are high, and even small missteps can have severe consequences.

It's crucial to carefully manage risks to avoid catastrophic results.