China plans to develop up to 60 GW of hydropower capacity on a section of the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangbo) River, which flows from Tibet into India and Bangladesh. The project was included in the proposals for formulating the country’s 14th Five-Year Plans (2021-2025) and its long-term goal through 2035.
China estimates its hydropower potential at around 700 GW, nearly twice its current hydropower capacity of more than 356 GW (2019). In 2015, China commissioned the 510 MW Zangmu hydropower plant (or Zam hydropower plant) on the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Zangbo) river in the Shannan prefecture of Tibet. In November 2020, China Three Gorges Power (CTGPC) fully commissioned the 22.5 GW Three Gorges hydropower project on the Yangtze River. The project, which consists of a dam, a five-tier ship lock and 34 turbines, has passed all acceptance tests. The construction of the project began in 1994 and started generating electricity in 2003. Construction was completed in 2009.
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