New hydroelectric plants to produce double Three Gorges Dam capacity

The China Three Gorges Corporation is building four hydroelectric power stations in southwestern China that together will produce twice as much power as the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest-capacity hydroelectric power plant, state media reported. The four stations will together generation about 190 billion kilowatts of electricity a year after they come online, according to a report released by China Three Gorges Corporation. The company received approval in 2002 to build the stations, all of which are located on the Jinsha River, one of the major headwaters feeding the Yangtze that also forms the boundary between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Construction began earliest on the largest station, the Xiluodu station, in 2005. That station will have installed capacity of 13.86 million kilowatts when it is completed in 2013, making it China’s second-largest. Construction on the Xiangjiaba station began in 2006, and it will be put into operation in 2012. The other two facilities are still in the design stage, the report said.