China operationalised Zam Hydropower station on Brahmaputra River in Tibet

China on 13 October 2015 operationalised the Zam hydropower station on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). It is considered to be the highest-altitude hydropower station in the world.

While the first unit began operations in November 2014 itself, the present initiative connected the remaining five units to the power grid.

Features of Zam or Zangmu hydropower station

• It was built on the river Brahmaputra that is also known as the river Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet.
• It was built at a cost of 1.5 billion US dollars in Shannan Prefecture in the South East China.
• It produces 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

Comment

The construction of the project raised apprehensions in India as it is feared that diversions of water affect projects in the downstream in Arunachal Pradesh.

However, as it is a run-of- the-river project and bilateral institutional arrangements are in place since 2008 on sharing river water information it is less likely it will strain the relations between India and China.

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