Approval given to build two hydropower stations

The central government has approved a plan to build two huge hydropower plants on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on the border region of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. They will have a combined generating capacity of 18.6m kilowatts, slightly more than that of the Three Gorges project. Compared with previous projects in China, the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations will include greater water-flow control, a smaller submerged area and fewer displaced people, said Xinhua. These stations from part of the state's plan to transmit electricity from the west of the country to the more developed eastern regions.