China plans to build four more hydropower stations along the Yangtze River that together will have the capacity to produce twice as much electricity as the Three Gorges project.

Construction of one of the four, which will be the country's second-largest hydropower station, began on Monday.

Xiluodu Hydropower Station is located in the Xiluodu Gorge between Leibo County, in Sichuan Province, and Yongshan County, in Yunnan Province. It is on the Jinsha River, an upstream branch of the Yangtze River.

The station will have about 12.6 million kilowatts of generation capacity and 11.57 billion cubic metres of sluice capacity, according to the China Three Gorges Project Corporation, the prime contractor.

The station is expected to dam the Jinsha River in 2007, with the first generating unit installed in 2012. The entire project will be completed by 2015.

The project will cost 50.34 billion yuan (US$6.2 billion). It is expected to bring about 300 million yuan (US$37million) of revenue to Sichuan Province annually when it is completed, said Wang Huaichen, vice-governor of the province.

Construction of the hydropower station is part of China's West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project, which aims to transfer power from the hydropower-rich southwest to the electricity-thirsty east.

The station, along with three other hydropower stations planned for the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, the Wudongde, Baihetan and Xiangjiaba stations, will turn the Jinsha River into the biggest base for west-east electricity transmission.

The four stations will have a combined installed capacity of 38.5 million kilowatts, twice as large as the generating capacity of the Three Gorges project.

"The Xiluodu project has been launched after three years of preparation in terms of technical planning, environmental protection, water protection, and the relocation of over 7,000 residents in the construction area," said Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Three Gorges Project Corporation.

Li said throughout the construction process, the company will report to the State Environmental Protection Administration and the local environmental watchdog on any possible impact on the river's ecosystem.

Besides electricity power supply, the four stations will help retain silt to reduce sand build-up in the Three Gorges reservoir.

They will also improve water flow in the dry season to increase the power-generating capacity of the Three Gorges and Gezhouba stations in the lower reaches of the river.

The Chinese Government wants to fully exploit its rich hydropower reserves to obtain cheap, renewable and clean energy.

Jia Jinsheng, vice-president of the International Commission on Large Dams, told China Daily that China is trying to boost the portion of its energy that comes from renewable sources, instead of using coal and oil.

Jia said currently in China, hydropower stations account for around 6 per cent of the total installed electricity capacity.

Source: China Daily