China Three Gorges Power (CTGPC), China's largest hydropower developer and operator of the 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river, plans to diversify from hydropower into other renewable energy sources, including wind and solar. The company estimates that the market for giant hydropower plants is reaching a saturation point and that no large-scale hydropower plant will be left to build once the downstream Jinsha River project completed in 2020. Moreover, the approval process for large hydropower plants slowed slightly after the controversial Three Gorges Dam in 2005.
The company completed its 13,680 MW Xiluodu project in June 2014 with the 18th 770 MW turbine commissioned and the 6.4 GW Xiangjiaba project was fully commissioned in July 2014. By 2020, CTGPC will have invested a total of Cyu 700bn (US$114bn) to develop six giant hydropower plants on the Yangtze et Jinsha Rivers with a total capacity of 71.7 GW.
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