By Dechen Palmo
At the
dawn of a new era of building dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo, countless lives and
ecosystems are being risked in the name of “development” and geopolitics.
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| This Map shows the Yarlung Tsangpo or the Brahmaputra river in Tibet with number of dams on it. Map prepared by Mingyur Tenpa, Environment & Development Desk, Tibet Policy Institute |
Over the
last seven decades, the People’s Republic of China has constructed more than
87,000 dams. Collectively they generate 352.26 GW of power, more than the
capacities of Brazil, the United States, and Canada combined. On the other
hand, these projects have led to the displacement of over 23 million
people.
The
Tibetan plateau is a rich repository of indispensable freshwater resources that
are shared across Asia. After damming most of its rivers, China is now casting
its eyes on the major international rivers flowing out from the Tibetan plateau,
heralding a new era of damming Tibet’s rivers.
Tibet,
known as the “Water Tower of Asia,” serves as the source of 10 major Asian
river systems flowing into 10 countries, including many of the most densely
populated nations in the world: China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan.
China,
through its political control over Tibet, has complete upper riparian control
over all major rivers flowing out of the Tibetan plateau. Compared to China,
Tibet remains a virgin territory with less than 0.6 percent of its hydropower resources being utilized
for developmental purposes. But this is changing rapidly. As China seeks to
meet its renewable energy targets, Beijing will have to harness yet more
hydropower. Chinese hydropower and energy companies have been lobbying the
government to allow more hydropower projects to tap into Tibet’s fast-flowing
rivers, with as many as 28 proposals awaiting approval.
Tibet is a
geologically unstable region with an average elevation of 4,500 meters above
sea level (14,800 feet). Despite the critical
state of the Tibetan plateau which remains ecologically sensitive and
seismically active, China is still moving on with its ambitious plan to expand
the hydropower generation on the headwaters of Asia’s major rivers — the
Yangtze, Yellow, Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong, and Salween Rivers.
China’s
State Council’s energy plan for the 12th
Five-Year Plan (2011-15) and 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) confirm the
government’s intentions to vigorously push forward the hydropower project on
the Tibetan plateau. Hydropower is being promoted as the centerpiece of China’s
plan to expand its renewable energy sector. By 2020, China wants to triple its
hydropower capacity to 300 GW. Therefore it is increasingly damming
transboundary rivers to achieve its hydropower targets.
The
Brahmaputra, know as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, is a major international
river shared between Tibet, India, and Bangladesh. It stretches over a total
length of 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from west to east, starting on the Tibetan
plateau from its source, the Chemayungdung glaciers near the sacred Mount
Kailash.
Once a
free-flowing river, it is now dammed on every section. Starting from Zangmu
hydroelectric power station, there has been a cascade of dams being built on
the Brahmaputra. Geologist
Yang Yong had rightly said that the activity represents “the start of a
hydropower era for Tibet’s rivers.”
In January
2013, China approved three dam projects on the Brahmaputra River as part of its
12th Five-Year Plan, which triggered concerns in the Indian media about the possible impact
on downstream flows. In an attempt to downplay India’s concern over these
matters, the Chinese government was
quick to assure India that the project will be planned and reasoned
scientifically. It maintained that the project was a Run-of-River (ROR)
hydroelectricity generation project – meaning a part of the river was being
diverted to run past electricity generating turbines, and then the water would
flow back to join the river. Such a ROR project would, according to that
argument, not reduce the water flow and not have any impact downstream.
These
assertions are largely untrue. Instead, ROR projects require storing large
volumes of water during the day, only to be released all at once in the evening
for generating power during peak energy demand. These daily fluctuations in the
river cause an incredible disruption to the river ecology. Moreover, large dams
also increase the probabilities of earthquakes, destroy precious environments,
and shatter the lives of millions of people who are dependent on the
Brahmaputra River.
Rather
than benefiting populations with non-polluting power, China’s dam builders are making a Faustian
bargain with nature, selling Tibet’s soul in their drive for economic
growth. Taken together there is much scientific evidence that dams are not
the clean, green, or cheap source of electric power they are often made out to
be.
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| This photo shows a construction site of Jiexu Dam. Photo taken on November 10, 2018. Photo@Dechen Palmo |
It is no
surprise that China has begun the construction of three hydropower dams (Dagu,
Jiexu, and Jiacha) on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra. The Dagu (660 MW)
and Jiexu (560 MW) dams are being constructed upstream of Zangmu and the Jiacha
dam (320 MW) downstream of Zangmu — all located within a few kilometers from
each other.
The Zangmu
hydropower station (510 MW) is only the start. China plans to build 11
hydropower stations on the Brahmaputra mainstream and several on its
tributaries. Huaneng, Huadian, Guodian and Datang — four major power generation
groups — have already taken root in Tibet. Among them, Huaneng is the largest
hydropower development in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
Huaneng
Tibet Power Generation Co. Ltd. (HTPG), a subsidiary of the state-owned China
Huaneng Group, has signed multiple agreements with the TAR government regarding
the development of clean energy in the region. According to the agreements
between the company and the regional government, Huaneng’s installed capacity
in Tibet will reach 10,000 megawatts by 2020. It is believed that hydropower
resources in the TAR account for 29 percent of the national total.
According
to the plan, Huaneng Group is responsible for the development of the Jiexu and
Jiacha hydropower stations whereas Huadian group constructed Dagu.
In
addition, the Bayu hydropower station began its survey in November last year.
The installed capacity of that power station is 800 MW.
From time
to time, whenever water issues such as floods and other disasters occur in the
region, India raises its concerns to Chinese counterparts. Those concerns are
met with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or Expert Level Mechanism (ELM), which
remains nonbinding and without any governing body that ensures their
implementation.
China has
so far not communicated officially about the construction of these dams on the
Brahmaputra. A lack of transparency about dam building on the Tibetan river
raises questions about whether the Tibetan people and the downstream countries
were fully informed about the risk and impacts on a river system that supports
millions. These proposed dams will pose a serious ecological threat not
only to the Tibetan plateau but also to the other side of the border. China, by
constructing these dams, will be responsible for the overexploitation of the
river, which can jeopardize the river ecosystem as well as alter water flows
downstream, affecting the farmers and fishermen of India and Bangladesh.
Moreover,
China can also easily manipulate the river flow, which puts India at a
strategically disadvantageous position. It is high time for India to take a
stand in order to ascertain their user rights on the river and monitor those
dam activities on the upper part of the Brahmaputra River.
The
environmental health of the Tibetan plateau is critical for around 1.3 billion
people who live in the river basins downstream in Asia. The Tibetan river
shouldn’t be seen only as a source of hydropower; its geological significance
should also be taken into serious consideration.
(The article was originally published by The Diplomat on November 1, 2019)