Critics argue the Medog Hydropower Station in Tibet poses risks that are not worth the cost for a region that doesn’t support demand for the energy it would generate.

By John Jones | Published by Institute for Security and Development Policy

Everything about the Medog Hydropower Station in Tibet sounds like a monster. A cost of 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion). The capacity to supply energy to 300 million people. The ability to annually generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of power, three times the energy of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the largest hydropower dam in the world. An engineering behemoth in the world’s deepest canyon, harnessing the power of the mighty Yarlung Tsangpo river as it flows from the Tibetan glaciers, around the Great Bend in Tibet’s Medog County and then rushes down a 50-kilometre stretch, during which it drops 2,000 metres.

Summary

The Medog’s construction in the deep canyon of the Yarlung Tsangpo river poses risks such as landslides and reservoir-induced seismicity. Unsurprisingly, the project has sparked tensions with downstream countries who fear the dam could impact their water supply. Critics argue the dam is unnecessary for Tibet’s energy needs and could exacerbate climate change by releasing methane from thawing permafrost. The lack of consultation with Tibetan communities and the suppression of dissent further complicate the situation.

From the report:

Tibet Watch has yet to see an environmental impact assessment for the dam, which would surely need to address the landslides that have already occurred along the canyon and claimed the lives of villagers in Medog County. To take only one incident, in March 2021, a slope failure hazard caused by a collapsing glacier even managed to temporarily block the river. 

Due to this unstable landscape, Fan Xiao, an environmentalist and geological expert, noted two years ago that the dam was “infeasible”. Furthermore, and despite recent media reports that the new mega dam would be a key part in China’s ambition of reaching net zero by 2060, Fan stated that a dam in this area would be unnecessary for the purpose of reducing emissions or supplying Tibet’s relatively modest energy needs and would carry higher transmission costs than dams elsewhere in Tibet. His conclusion: “In view of the immense negative impact on the ecological and social environments in the Yarlung Tsangpo Great Bend, and the southeastern Tibetan region, it becomes clear that pursuing hydropower development in this area may not be worth the cost.”

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[The reference to “building on tofu” is attributed to Tian Yinghui, chief engineer at state-owned power company Huadian, who likened building the planned Kamtok dam in the silty upper reaches of Drichu River (known internationally as Yangtze) to constructing a “high-rise building on tofu”. – Ed.]

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