China’s Biggest Project Yet
China has begun construction on the world’s largest hydropower dam, located in the Tibet Autonomous Region. On 19 July 2025, China’s Premier Li Qiang formally announced the ground-breaking on the Lower Yarlung Tsangpo Hydropower Project (the LYT project). The 1.2 trillion yuan (US$168 billion) project comprises five cascade hydropower stations, expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours annually - a figure nearly triple that of China’s previous mega project, the Three Gorges Dam. When completed, this output will rival the annual electricity output of the United Kingdom. The project represents one of China's most ambitious infrastructure projects so far and is one of the most expensive infrastructure projects in history. “The undertaking is at the heart of China’s vision for renewable energy leadership, carbon neutrality, and regional integration, providing significant clean energy to the national grid, a giant step towards China’s commitment to meet its 2060 carbon neutrality goals.”
“The planned project flows through the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, recognized as earth's deepest canyon system. Four 20-kilometer tunnels will be dug through Namcha Barwa mountain to divert the Yarlung Tsangpo river. Water will be diverted through tunnels to a lower elevation to generate electricity and then will be returned to the river. The area is believed to possess one of the world’s greatest untapped hydropower potentials.”
There are two question marks over the project. Firstly, India is a downstream nation that relies on the river. While China assures that the project will not impede water flow, India is concerned about potential impacts on water supply and flooding. The dam could significantly reduce water flow in the Siang River, threatening traditional livelihoods and agricultural practices. At the same time, local leaders have warned that sudden releases of water from the dam could cause catastrophic flooding, endangering lives, property, and cultural heritage in the Siang belt – “a water bomb.”
Secondly, the project is located in a seismically active region, thus posing serious risks to downstream Indian Assam - including erosion, ecological disruption, and potential disaster in the event of an earthquake.
Significantly, the political process that authorised the project sheds light on the changes taking place in China. The previous mega project, the Three Gorges Project, was the subject of intense debate throughout the 1980s over its design, feasibility, and potential environmental and social impacts. When the Seventh National People’s Congress voted on the Three Gorges Project on 3rd April 1992, 177 of the 2,633 deputies voted against it and 664 abstained. This significant level of dissent and abstention - unusual in China’s typically rubber-stamp legislature - reflected the depth of concern and controversy surrounding that project, even within the political establishment.
In contrast, the LYT project - with an investment cost five times greater and planned installation capacity three times greater than the Three Gorges Project, in a far more environmentally fragile and politically sensitive area - is moving ahead without a vote in the national legislature. It was simply decided and moved along within China’s bureaucratic process. Unlike the Three Gorges Project, there has been little public awareness or discussion about the LYT project outside of hydropower industry circles.
Building the dam will not be easy. “Despite China’s strong capabilities in hydropower development after building thousands of dams in past decades, the LYT project presents several technical challenges without proven capabilities, including dam-building on unstable ground, constructing long tunnels through mountainous terrain, and operating in a cold and low-oxygen environment.”
This is China, so expect success!
Pray for this project, that it will benefit China.
Pray for those in China negatively impacted by this project.
Pray for China’s relationships with India.
Source: Wikipedia; BBC; Made in China Journal
