(June 3, 2002) China will start construction this month on the Xiluodu dam on the Jinsha River [upper Yangtze], after the project was frozen at the start of the year over environmental concerns.

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Beijing: China will start construction this month on the country’s second largest hydropower dam, the official Xinhua agency reported on Thursday, after the project was frozen at the start of the year over environmental concerns. Some 67 billion yuan ($8.30 billion) of investment will be poured into the Xiluodu hydropower station, on a tributary of the Yangtze, the report quoted Wang Huaichen, vice-governor of southwestern Sichuan province saying. The plant on the Jinsha river will have 12.6 gigawatts of installed capacity when it is up and running — compared with a projected 22.4 gigawatts at the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectricity project. Xinhua did not say when the plant would start generation. China is trying to boost the portion of its energy that comes from renewable sources, which it says includes massive dams, to cut reliance on dirty-burning coal and imported oil. But some environmentalists do not believe large hydropower projects should be grouped with technologies like solar power or wind turbines because of their impact on river systems.

Reuters, June 3, 2002