Major Nujiang River projects 'could still move forward'
Environmental protection activists cautiously lauded a top Yunnan official's Monday vow that the province will halt all small hydropower projects on the Nujiang River, a 3,000-kilometer waterway that flows from Southwest China to Myanmar and Thailand, saying it remains unclear whether the planned major power stations will move ahead. [Special coverage]
"All small hydro power plants on the Nujiang River will be halted, and will not start development again," Li Jiheng, Party chief of Yunnan Province, said in response to an inquiry by a reporter from The Beijing News during a press meeting held by Yunnan lawmakers in Beijing as part of the ongoing session of the National People's Congress.
Li said the local government will build the Nujiang Canyon into a world-class tourist destination in five to 10 years which will alleviate local poverty.
The river, which originates in the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau, flows through deep canyons in Yunnan and is the last major river in China free from man-made hydro projects.
It became a center of controversy after the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) passed a plan in 2003 to build 13 hydropower stations along it. The plan met with a storm of opposition, not only from environmental protection groups, but also the State environment authorities, who cited inevitable damage to the ecosystem.
The Yunnan provincial government changed the plan into four hydro plants for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15). But in the face of continued opposition, major construction has not started.
Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers and a frequent visitor to the area, said that while she is happy about the project suspension, she remains concerned about the river's future.
"I've visited the major rivers in China in the past 10 years, and I've seen dam after dam being built," she told the Global Times on Monday. "I hope the Nujiang is the last river that can keep its natural flow through the mountains."
She said that the official only specified small hydro projects on tributaries and there is no sign that the planned major projects will be canceled.
Wang said an official at the National Energy Administration under the NDRC told her in February that the administration will still push forward the hydro projects on the Nujiang.
Zhang Boju, director-general of another non-governmental group, Friends of Nature, also expressed caution.
"Before they start building these hydro plants, why don't they ask themselves whether they really need those extra plants?" he said.
"The country has been calling for a reduction in industrial capacity, including power output, as a result of downward economic pressures. Is it still necessary to build so many power stations?" Zhang said.
Beside the mammoth Three Gorges power station built on the Yangtze River's middle reaches in 2009, a dozen hydro power plants have been built or are under construction in its upper reaches.
Media reports have claimed that some hydro stations let water flow away without producing power because of sluggish demand.
Sichuan Power Grid in Southwest China's Sichuan Province has "discarded water" worth up to 10 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) each year in the past four years, reported local news portal Sichuan Online, adding that 20 billion kWh of electricity will be wasted in 2016.
