China has just given the green light for the construction of the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The Motuo Dam, on the Tibetan high plateau. A pharaonic project which is part of a vast clean energy development plan in the region but which has consequences on the environment and the population and which worries local populations and neighboring countries.
The Motuo Dam is to be built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River which rises on the Tibetan high plateau. The project aims to divert part of the current towards turbines, to release it below. It would have a capacity of 60 Gigawatt, three times the Three Gorges Dam, currently the most powerful in the world, which represents more than 35 times the power of a latest generation nuclear reactor.
The objective is “ to accelerate the development of clean energy and fight against climate change », Explains the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 60% of the country’s electricity is still produced with coal, the fossil fuel that emits the most greenhouse gases.
Tensions around water resources
Except that below, when the river changes its name and becomes the Brahmaputra, it crosses theInde and the Bangladeshcountries which are worried about seeing the Chine take control of this vital resource. China clearly stated that the project would not have “ no negative downstream effects “, India has just officially informed him of its concerns and assures that it ” will do what is necessary to protect its interests ».
Above all, China plans to build many more dams in this region according to a recent study by the NGO International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), which identified 193 hydroelectric dams planned or under construction. A figure undoubtedly below reality, estimates the NGO, because given the concerns raised by these projects, China avoids publicizing them and some have not been listed.
« Tibet is the region where the largest rivers in Asia originate and on which 1 billion 800 million people depend », recalls Tibetan researcher Dechen Palmo. And the risk of political instability is not the only risk posed, she explains. Indeed, Beijing’s objective is to fully exploit the potential of the area and produce green energy to power not only the country, but also to resell it to its neighbors. “ 80% of these dams are large or mega-projects “. If they are all achieved ” they could produce more than 270 Gigawatts of hydroelectric energy, the equivalent of German production ”, according to the ICT report.
Impacts on the environment and the population
To achieve its ambitions, China has set up “ a colossal plan to move the population across all of Tibet. It is estimated that up to 1,200,000 people are and will be evicted from their homes », affirms Dechen Palmo. « There are so many temples, monuments, sacred sites… that will be destroyed to make room for these dams. We also know that they will have a significant impact on protected nature reserves, areas rich in biodiversity. In addition, the region of Tibet where the dams will be built is highly seismic. So there is a real risk of earthquakes which would lead to landslides and flooding downstream. », Lists the researcher.
Tibetans therefore demand that the energy transition of the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases does not occur by destroying their communities, their culture and their means of subsistence. A year ago during a demonstration against one of these dams in Dege, protesters, including Buddhist monks, begged on their knees the local authorities to take their requests into consideration, but hundreds of people were arrested and the project has run its course.
