China will build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam in Tibet

China has approved the construction of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, raising concerns about displacement of communities in Tibet and environmental impacts in India and Bangladesh.

The dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, can generate three times more energy than the Three Gorges Dam, which is currently the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world.

Chinese state media described the development as “a safe project that prioritizes ecological conservation”, saying it would boost local prosperity and contribute to Beijing’s climate neutrality goals.

However, human rights groups and experts have raised concerns about the negative impacts of the development.

Among them are fears that construction of the dam – first announced in late 2020 – could displace local communities, as well as significantly alter the natural landscape and harm local ecosystems, which Tibetans One of the richest and most diverse on the plateau.

China has built several dams in Tibetan areas – a controversial topic in a region controlled by Beijing since its occupation in the 1950s.

Activists previously told the BBC that the dams were the latest example of Beijing’s exploitation of Tibetans and their lands. Primarily Buddhist Tibet has seen a wave of crackdowns in the past few years, in which thousands of people are believed to have been killed.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government arrested hundreds of Tibetans who were protesting against another hydroelectric dam. It ended in arrests and beatings, with some people seriously injured BBC learned from sources and verified footage,

They were protesting plans to build the Gangtuo Dam and hydroelectric power plant, which would displace many villages and submerge ancient monasteries containing holy relics. However, Beijing said it had relocated and compensated the local people, and transferred the ancient frescoes to safety.

In the case of the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, Chinese officials have stressed that the project will not have any major environmental impact – but they have not indicated how many people it will displace. The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam required the resettlement of 1.4 million people.

Reports indicate that the massive development will require digging at least four 20 km long tunnels through the Namcha Barwa Mountains, which will divert the flow of the Yarlung Tsangpo, Tibet’s longest river.

Experts and officials have also raised concerns that the dam would give China the right to control or divert the flow of the cross-border river, which flows south into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and further into Bangladesh.

A 2020 report published by the Lowy Institute, an Australia-based think tank, said that “control of these rivers (in the Tibetan Plateau) effectively gives China control over India’s economy”.

Shortly after China announced its plans for the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam project in 2020, a senior Indian government official told Reuters that India’s government was considering building a large hydropower dam “to mitigate the adverse impact of Chinese dam projects”. And was exploring the development of the reservoir.

China’s Foreign Ministry previously responded to India’s concerns over the proposed dam in 2020, saying that China had the “legitimate right” to dam the river and had considered downstream impacts.

China has built several hydropower stations along the course of the Yarlung Tsangpo over the past decade to harness the river’s energy as a source of renewable energy. Flowing through the deepest canyon on Earth, one section of the river drops 2,000 meters within a short span of just 50 km, providing great potential for generating hydroelectricity.

However, the river’s dramatic topography also presents huge engineering challenges – and this latest dam is China’s largest and most ambitious to date.

The development site is located along an earthquake-prone tectonic plate boundary. Chinese researchers had previously raised concerns that such extensive digging and construction in the steep and narrow valley would increase the frequency of landslides.

“Earthquake-induced landslides and soil-rock flows are often uncontrollable and will also pose a major threat to the project,” a senior engineer at the Sichuan Provincial Geological Bureau said in 2022.

The Chongyi Water Resources Bureau estimates the project could cost up to one trillion yuan ($127 billion; £109.3 billion).