Construction began yesterday on a hydropower project in Southwest China which will have a third of the capacity of the Three Gorges Project when completed in nine years.

An aerial view of a section of southwest China's Jinsha River, where a hydropower project will be built, November 26, 2006. [newsphoto]

Power generation from the 6-gigawatt Xiangjiaba project, combined with the 12.6 gigawatt Xiluodu project on which construction started 11 months ago, would be the equivalent of the Three Gorges Project by 2015.

"The start of construction indicates the Xiangjiaba project whose initial planning started as early as in 1957, has entered a new phase," said Fan Qixiang, vice-president of China Three Gorges Project Corp (CTGPC) which is the builder of the project.

CTGPC is also building the 18.2-gigawatt Three Gorges Project the world's largest scheduled for full operation in 2009.
"The project will have to face manifold challenges, including environmental protection and resettlement of residents," Fan told a press conference on the eve of the ground-breaking ceremony.

Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan inspected the construction site of the country's third-largest hydropower station at Yibin in Sichuan Province yesterday.

Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan announces the start of a hydropower-project construction in Southwest China, November 26,2006. [newsphoto]

The 28.9 billion yuan (US$3.68 billion) project is on the Jinsha River, another name for the upper reaches of the Yangtze the longest waterway in China.

In the course of construction, CTGPC will earmark 1.46 billion yuan (US$184.8 million) for environment protection, Fan said.

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