Hydropower Development in the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra Basin: A Prime Prospect for China-India Cooperation

By Brian Yanity

This review article provides an overview of India and China’s hydropower development plans for the Brahmaputra watershed, specifically on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Siang River straddling the border region of the two countries. It is predominately a qualitative literature review, providing a high-level engineering discussion of the alternatives of hydroelectric development on the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo with a minimum amount of ecological and social impact. This site is the world’s greatest single hydroelectric power potential, with more than 40 GW of feasible power generation capacity. The Brahmaputra basin as whole has over 200 GW of hydropower potential, less than 1% of which has been developed, all within a feasible electric power transmission distance of over one billion people. The possibilities and mutual benefits of cooperation between India and China, and the exceptional magnitude of hydropower potential on this shared Himalayan river basin, are discussed. To facilitate such cooperation, there is a great need for increasing collection and sharing of accurate technical and scientific information, particularly hydrological data. Such transparency and increased scientific knowledge is required to guide the socially responsible development of infrastructure projects in the Tsangpo-Brahmaptutra basin, to conserve and protect natural resources, help build trust and reduce the likelihood of conflict between the two regional superpowers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Yanity
• Release date: Jun 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9780989456302

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Hydropower Development in the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra Basin:

A Prime Prospect for China-India Cooperation

Brian Yanity

Abstract:

This review article provides an overview of India and China’s hydropower development plans for the Brahmaputra watershed, specifically on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Siang River straddling the border region of the two countries. It is predominately a qualitative literature review, providing a high-level engineering discussion of the alternatives of hydroelectric development on the Great Bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo with a minimum amount of ecological and social impact. This site is the world’s greatest single hydroelectric power potential, with more than 40 GW of feasible power generation capacity. The Brahmaputra basin as whole has over 200 GW of hydropower potential, less than 1% of which has been developed, all within a feasible electric power transmission distance of over one billion people. The possibilities and mutual benefits of cooperation between India and China, and the exceptional magnitude of hydropower potential on this shared Himalayan river basin, are discussed. To facilitate such cooperation, there is a great need for increasing collection and sharing of accurate technical and scientific information, particularly hydrological data. Such transparency and increased scientific knowledge is required to guide the socially responsible development of infrastructure projects in the Tsangpo-Brahmaptutra basin, to conserve and protect natural resources, help build trust and reduce the likelihood of conflict between the two regional superpowers.

Keywords:

Yarlung Tsangpo; Siang; Brahmaputra; China; India; Tibet; Arunachal Pradesh; Pemako; regional cooperation; hydropower; water resources

Copyright © 2013 Brian B. Yanity. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication, aside from brief quotations, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the author.

First Published: June 2013

ISBN-10: 0989456307

ISBN-13: 978-0-9894563-0-2

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River

Hydropower resources of Pemako

China’s hydropower development strategy for the Yarlung Tsangpo (upper Brahmaputra)

Motuo

Daduqia

Potential size and impacts of a dam on the Great Bend

India’s hydropower development strategy for the Siang (upper Brahmaputra)

Opportunities for cooperation between India and China on hydropower development on the Yarlung Tsangpo-Siang River

Next steps for international collaboration in the Brahmaputra watershed

Further definition/study, design, cost estimation, and impact assessment of major hydroelectric sites in Pemako and surrounding regions in the Eastern Himalayas

Sub-national (regional) cooperation initiatives in northeast India

Increased collection and sharing of hydrological, climate, and other scientific data

Expanded international cooperation between governments

Conclusion

References

Author Information

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the following reviewers for their valuable review, comments and suggestions: Joshua Davies, executive communication officer at the LAM Institute (Seoul, South Korea); Mirja Kattelus, PhD candidate, and Dr. Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman, postdoctoral researcher, of the Water and Development Research Group of Aalto University (Espoo, Finland); and Kassi Grunder, masters degree candidate at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace and Justice of the University of San Diego (California, USA). Any errors or omissions are the fault of the author alone.

Cover Photo: Yarlung Tsangpo River during spring time, Mainling County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. © Shen Tao; stock photo from 123RF.com (standard license). Cover design by Reginald Arlantico

Introduction

The hydroelectric resources of the neighboring regions of Arunachal Pradesh state (India), Tibet Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province (China) provide huge potential to increase renewable energy production for the world’s two most populous countries, and their neighbors. In particular, the exceptional hydropower resource of the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River basin stands out as an opportunity for international collaboration on electric power infrastructure development. The Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River’s basin in Tibet alone represents 7% of the total hydropower potential of the People’s Republic of China (Fu and Zhong, 2008), and within Arunachal Pradesh the basin holds roughly 40% of the hydropower potential of India. The estimated theoretical potential hydropower capacity of the Brahmaputra watershed is over 200 gigawatts (GW), or 200,000 MW, divided between China with 110 GW, India with 66 GW, Bhutan with 30 GW, and a very small potential in Bangladesh (Rahaman, 2012). Less than 1% of the basin’s hydroelectric potential has been tapped. Both large-scale hydropower development in the Eastern Himalayan region, and the necessary transmission line infrastructure, are now technically feasible for the following reasons (Yanity, submitted):

-The development of UHVDC technology, at voltages of 800 kV or higher, for multi-terminal, long-distance electric transmission systems, enabling the economical and efficient movement of the massive amounts of power concentrated at Himalayan hydropower sites to electricity users more than 1,000 km away.

-New infrastructure, chiefly roads, being built in both northeastern India and southwest China, allowing large-scale logistical and construction access to many Eastern Himalayan hydropower sites for the first time.

-Advances in construction techniques, including helicopter-based, and civil engineering of power line transmission line structures on permafrost soils and on avalanche-prone mountain slopes and passes.

-Improvements in tunneling and other underground construction techniques for hydropower developments, and related road infrastructure, in mountainous regions.

-More advanced methods of handling reservoir and intake sedimentation problems at hydroelectric projects in mountainous regions, based on decades of