China said on Sunday it will review the 13 planned hydropower projects in the country's southwest after the massive May 12 quake, but expects no big change to the plans.
"We are going to review these projects from the geological conditions and environmental impact after the quake. But we foresee no big change to the plans," Liu Ning, chief engineer of Ministry of Water Resources, said at a news conference.
The southwest, including Sichuan province worst hit by the May 12 earthquake, is the country's hydropower base. Hydropower supplies more than one tenth of China's electricity needs.
The 8.0-magnitude tremor that hammered Sichuan nearly two weeks ago damaged 27 out of the 29 power stations along Min river and knocked out 4.4 gigawatts of power supply shortly after.
China has quickly restored most of the lost power supply, including the main Zipingpu power plant on the Min river, with its four generators resumed normal operations, E Jingping, Vice Minister of Water Resources told a news conference.
(China Daily via Agencies May 26, 2008)
