Hydropower dams can negatively impact the environment. More harm than good? Bach Hac Than Hydropower Plant officially stored water when the second bottom outlet closed on April 6. This means that the world’s second largest hydroelectric project has taken an important step towards its power generation goal on July 1. With the discharge door closed, the reservoir water level begins to rise and will reach 775 meters by mid-June. As a result, generation conditions are met. From August to September, the water in the lake will be stored up to 800 meters and then 825 meters in June 2022. The total storage capacity of the Bach Hac Than dam will be 20.627 billion cubic meters, accounting for 91% of the Kim Sa river basin. This is an important part of the Yangtze River flood control system, which has a capacity of 7.5 billion cubic meters. The total installed capacity of this second-ranked power plant in the world is 16 million KW. The capacity of a world-leading unit is 1 million kilowatts. New electricity will help China achieve its carbon neutralization goal. The Bach Hac Than Hydropower Station is an important part of the flood control system in the Yangtze River basin. At the same time, Bach Hac Than is a landmark project in the development of the global hydropower industry. However, while some people give information about clean energy of hydroelectricity, many argue that it can cause immeasurable damage to biodiversity, soil erosion, loss of archaeological and cultural sites. Even more than a million people will have to be relocated. Although the government has yet to reveal a detailed approach to meet the target of achieving carbon neutralization by 2060, hydropower has been featured in the 5-year plan 2021 – 2025 as well as vision 2035. Both were approved by China’s top legislature in March. In those plans, the government stated its intention to “step up the construction of hydroelectric facilities in southwestern China”. At the same time, promote wind energy and solar energy. “The dams will be a solid support to China’s energy industry and reduce carbon emissions. The construction of hydropower plants can bring benefits to irrigation, shipping and power generation, with great socio-economic value, ”said Professor Lu Qiang of Tsinghua University. Lin Boqiang, head of the Xiamen University’s China Energy Policy Research Institute, said the country is set to expand hydroelectric capacity. Because, water is the cheapest clean energy that can be used stably. “The dam construction is still controversial in China because of environmental concerns. However, the objection is no longer as strong as before, because the need to achieve carbon neutralization is increasingly urgent, ”said Mr. Lin. China’s dam construction activity began in the 1950s and has accelerated over the past two decades. At the end of 2018, Chinese hydroelectricity had a capacity of 352GW, accounting for 28% of the total global capacity and more than three times that of any other country. Heavy impact The Bai Hac Than Dam is worth 170 billion yuan ($ 26 billion) on the Jinsha River (Yangtze), in Sichuan province. The dam has made many people admire for the speed of its construction. China only took four years to build, despite the rugged terrain and far away, with the help of artificial intelligence technology. The Bai Hac Than emergency construction reflects the acceleration in China’s plan to expand hydroelectric capacity as a source of renewable energy. By the time Bach Hac Than reaches full capacity by the end of next year, China will be a country with five out of the 10 largest hydroelectric plants in the world. That pace of development has raised concerns about the impact of hydropower dams. China Green Development and Biodiversity Conservation said it is closely monitoring new dam construction projects. “It has been shown that dam construction harms the ecosystem and affects the habitat of wildlife,” said Wang Jing, a spokesman for the organization. We are concerned that some places will increase the development of hydropower projects to serve the government’s goal of carbon neutral ”. According to Fan Xiao, geologist and chief engineer of the Sichuan Department of Geology and Minerals, dams have a negative impact on the local ecological environment. Especially for aquatic animal biodiversity. They slow down the water flow rate and reduce the volume and purity of the water, Fan said. From there, it destroys the habitats of aquatic animals and hinders fish migration. Chinese scientists in 2019 announced the extinction of paddle fish. It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. They are also known as Chinese swordfish, with a length of 7 meters. This fish is believed to have gone extinct from 2005 – 2010. The construction of the Cat Chau Ba dam on the Yangtze River since the 1970s has been a major contributor to this species’ decline, researchers found, by preventing fish from reaching their only breeding ground. upstream. According to the scientists, the river system is in trouble containing more than 4,000 aquatic species. However, dam construction, overfishing, water traffic and pollution have caused a lot of damage, with fish stocks declining and biodiversity rapidly declining. Mr. Fan said that building more hydroelectric plants is not the best way to reduce carbon emissions. “Water is a kind of clean energy, but we cannot ignore the huge carbon emissions generated by dam construction, excavation and migration,” warns the expert.

It will be built on the Yarlung Tsangbo River, just before the river exits the Himalayas and flows into India, along the world’s longest and deepest canyon located at an altitude of more than 1,500 meters. Yarlung Tsangbo is one of the major rivers of Asia originating in Tibet, flowing through India, Bangladesh and flowing into the Bay of Bengal (this river is named Brahmaputra when coming to India and Meghna when flowing into Bangladesh).

A hydroelectric dam on the Brahmaputra River. (Photo: Indiandefencereview)

The hydroelectric project in Medog district in Tibet is expected to break the record of the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River, in central China, with an expected capacity of 300 billion kw of electricity per year. This ambitious project was also featured in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan at the 4th Session of the National People’s Congress of China in March 2021. However, Chinese officials have yet to release the details, timeframe and budget for the project. Before that, China has implemented the construction of a number of smaller hydroelectric projects on this river.

In October 2020, Tibetan officials signed a “strategic cooperation agreement” with PowerChina – a company specializing in the construction of hydroelectric projects. Expressing his passion for “arguably the richest region in the world for this hydroelectric resource”, Yan Zhiyong, head of PowerChina, explained that the dam will generate ample electricity thanks to the Great slope of the river in this distance.

Beijing thinks the project is an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel use, however, it runs the risk of encountering strong opposition from environmentalists, like like what happened with the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam was built from 1994 to 2012, crossing the Yangtze River, the section that flows through Hubei province, and is currently the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.

The Tam Hiep Dam created a huge reservoir with a surface area of ​​more than 1,000 square kilometers, causing 1.4 million residents to evacuate. To complete the project, 40,000 workers worked non-stop for 17 years, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.

Brian Eyler, program director of Southeast Asia, Stimson Research Center in Washington DC, USA, said: “Building a dam of great size can be a bad idea for many reasons.” Not only is it famous for its strong seismic activity, the area where China plans to build a super dam also has a unique ecosystem. According to Mr. Brian Eyler, the new dam can stop fish migration and sediment flows help the soil become fertile downstream during the flood season.

Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, an environmental expert at the Tibetan Policy Institute, said that the project could face both ecological and political risks. Speaking to AFP, Mr. Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha said: “We have a very rich cultural heritage in this area. Therefore, any dam construction can damage the ecosystem and affect those heritages ”. According to Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, the dam project will force many locals to leave their homes.

The danger of “water war” explosion

Analysts fear tensions between China and India could turn from the disputed border area of ​​the Himalayas to the flow from the world’s highest mountain range. India has repeatedly expressed concerns about China’s mega-dam construction project.

Many analysts said, China intends to use the super dam on the Yarlung Zangbao River to control the flow, putting pressure on downstream countries, like what it did with the Mekong River. Some other opinions that Beijing is intending to control the water resources of the whole South Asia region.

In a commentary in Times of India, political scientist Brahma Chellaney assessed: “The water war is an important element of war. China can use upstream power to control its most essential natural resource.

This expert warned that the risks associated with seismic activities will make the dam become a “water bomb” that can explode at any time and threaten the lives of people in the downstream area.

In response to China’s super dam plan, the Indian government has come up with the idea to build another dam on the Brahmaputra River to increase water storage and neutralize the impact of the project that Beijing follows. chase.

“There is still plenty of time to negotiate with China about the future of the super dam and the impact it will create,” said expert Eyler, but he also noted, “the failure of negotiations will cause India to build. another dam downstream ”./.