Hydropower station put into use in Tibet's no-electricity area

LHASA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- An underground hydropower station has been put into operation in the former no-electricity area in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, local authorities said Monday.

  The Jinqiao hydropower station, which is a key project in the region's no-electricity areas, is the first hydropower station built with a rock-fill concrete gravity dam in Tibet.

  Located in Lhari County in the city of Nagqu, the hydropower station was built to solve power shortage in the county in winter.

  The hydropower station will provide clean and stable power to more than 30,000 local farmers and herdsmen, ending the area's history of energy consumption dominated by firewood and cow dung.

  The normal storage level of the reservoir of the station is 3,425 meters, with a total storage capacity of 381,700 cubic meters.

  With an investment of 1.4 billion yuan (about 202.7 million U.S. dollars), the station boasts a total installed capacity of 66 megawatts and an annual power generation capacity of 357 million kilowatt-hours.

  Sonam Gawa, deputy mayor of Nagqu, said the hydropower station is a landmark project for the city's development of green energy, clean energy and hydropower industry.

  The completion of the hydropower station will promote the adjustment of the industrial structure in the main pasturing areas of Tibet, change the mode of production, and help with poverty alleviation, according to the official.