Beijing (AsiaNews) - The Chinese Ministry of Environment has approved the project for the construction of the highest hydro-electric dam in the country, although it has at the same time recognized that this decision "will harm the local ecosystem." The dam will be 314 meters high (compared with 185 m of the Three Gorges) and will be built on the Dadu River, in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The project is called Shuangjiangkou.
Announcing the
decision, the ministry added that the environmental impact surveys show that
the dam will damage both the flora and fauna and even put the natural reserves
of the area at risk. But
it stressed that "counter-measures" will be taken to mitigate the effects.
The
company that holds the contract is called the Guodian Group and is state-owned:
according to forecasts it should complete construction in 10 years, for a total
cost of about 24.7 billion Yuan (about 2.7 billion euro ).
The
company has been in the sights of the central government because, in 2011, it began
the construction of 21 projects that had not yet been approved by the competent
bodies.
The practice is
quite common in China and demonstrates the close relationship between the
industry - public and private - to central and local political psheres. Even
the Huadian Group, the largest operator in the energy field in the country, began
construction of the hydrological plant in Hangdeng without waiting for
permission from the government.
The
"thirst" for energy continues to devour the country, which depends on
every energy source available to keep industrial production - and thus the
gross domestic product - at the growth rates of recent years, thus above 7
percentage points. China
has no natural oil but imports it from anyone willing to sell; for the remaining
energy supplies the government focus is still on coal mines and dams.