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Hydropower plant

A hydropower plant with the biggest single-unit capacity in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region started operation on Sunday.

Zhikong hydropower plant, located about 100 km northeast of capital Lhasa, can generate 407 million kwh of electricity a year, mainly for key areas in Tibet, including Lhasa, and the prefectures of Shannan, Xigaze and Nagqu, said Wang Qinghua, director of the Tibet Regional Power Bureau.

Apart from power generation, the plant will also play a role in flood control and irrigation, he added.

Construction of the plant started in October 2002 on the Lhasa River with an investment of 1.34 billion yuan. Its reservoir holds 224 million cubic meters of water with a dam of more than 50 meters in height.

(China Daily 09/25/2007 page15)