No longer on the drawing board, preparations are well under way for the Jinshajiang Project at the border between the Southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, which, when completed, would outshine the world-famous Three Gorges Project in terms of combined power output from its four stations along the river.

"The preparatory work has started for the construction of the Xiluodu hydropower station,'' Peng Qiyou, director of the construction department with Three Gorges Project Development Corp, told China Business Weekly.

"Road construction has started and work related to relocation is also well in progress.''

After 10 years of construction for the Three Gorges Project, Peng and his colleagues entered a new stage to take the helm in constructing the Jinshajiang Project.

All the technical workers will be gradually transferred from the Three Gorges Project to the Jinshajiang Project, according to Peng.

Xiluodu is the first of four hydropower stations in Jinshajiang River. The next one will be the Xiangjiaba hydropower station.

According to Peng, construction for both power stations will be formally announced next year.

With total investment topping 50 billion yuan (US$6.05 billion) for the two power stations, the Jinshajiang Project will be another milestone power venture for China.

According to Peng, the total installation capacity for Xiluodu station will be 12.6 million kilowatts, and 5.6 million kilowatts for Xiangjiaba. When added together, it is equivalent to another Three Gorges Project in terms of power capacity.

If the capacities of the other two stations are factored in, the Jinshajiang Project will be at least double that of the Three Gorges Project in terms of energy production.

Relocation pressure much lower

With the successful listing of its subsidiary China Yangtze Power Co Ltd on domestic A share market last year, the Three Gorges Project Develop Corp has announced that a mechanism in line with the market economy will be adopted to operate the Jinshajiang Project.

Peng said that the company is also mulling over plans to attract foreign and private capital into the project.

The Xiluodu station is one of the State's approved projects for comprehensive exploitation of the Yangtze River in 1990.

It is only second to the Three Gorges in scale, and compares favourably with the Itaipu Project, a co-operative energy partnership between Brazil and Uruguay.

Upon its completion, the Xiluodu station should guarantee a generation of 3.38 million kilowatts with an annual electrical generation of 57.35 billion kilowatt hours.

The Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations should provide 87.4 billion kilowatt hours worth of energy to Central and East China.

According to the design, Peng said, the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations will be completed before 2020.

Despite the colossal power generating capacity, building the two power stations would cost much less than that for the Three Gorges Project as the relocation pressures would be much lower.

According to Peng, only about 7,000 to 8,000 people in the dam area of Xiluodu will need to be moved, compared with the relocation of millions of people around the Three Gorges Dam.

"Unlike the Three Gorges Dam area, mostly desolate areas will be submerged with the Jinshajiang Project,'' Peng said.

"We have also learned valuable lessons from the relocation work with the Three Gorges Dam. We hope to work out a sustainable strategy for those who have to be moved from their homes.''

Aside from producing vast energy resources, the Jinshajiang Project is also expected to help solve the problem of sand deposits in the Three Gorges area, as the middle reaches of Jinshajiang River are the main sand producers in the Yangtze River.

Building the Jinshajiang Project will reduce the sand volume entering the Three Gorges Reservoir area by 34 per cent.

Flood prevention will also be a key factor for the Jinshajiang Project.

According to Peng, apart from the rising water levels from the Three Gorges Dam, flood hazards still exist in the Yangtze River. Jinshajiang Project will help solve those problems.

Four stations are planned to be built along the lower reaches of Jinshajiang, namely, Wudongde, Beihetan, Xiluodu and Xiangjiabai stations from top to bottom.

The Wudongde station will install a capacity around 7.4 million kilowatts with a yearly generation of 33.9 billion kilowatt hours. The Baihetan station will yield a capacity of 12.5 million kilowatts with a yearly generation around 55 billion kilowatt hours.