China plans to build four major hydropower plants on the Jinshajiang River in the southwest to supply electricity to its economically more developed coastal regions, official source with the the State Development Planning Commission(SDPC) has said.

SDPC official Shi Lishan said at a recent national conference on water resources in Kunming that the Xiangjiaba plant, located on the lower valley of the river, will have an installed capacity of 5 million kilowatts initially, to be upgraded to 7.2 million kilowatts eventually.

Another Xiluodu plant will have an installed capacity of 10 million kilowatts initially, and also to be upgraded to 14.48 million kilowatts.

The combined capacity of the two plants will exceed that of the Three Gorges hydropower plant being built on the Yangtze River. The latter has a capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts.

The construction of the two plants will begin in 2005 and 2006,respectively. Both are expected to be operational during the 13th five-year plan period (2016-2020).

The government has also allocated money for preliminary preparations on the Hutiaoxia (Tiger Jumping Gorge) plant in Yunnan, while another Baihetan plant is also in consideration, the official said.

( December 9, 2001)