Lhasa, September 8 – The latest water resources survey shows that Tibet boasts the largest volume of river water supply and the second largest volume of water sources in China.
An investigation has revealed that water volume in Tibet tops 448.2 billion cubic meters, accounting for 30 per cent of the country’s total.
The theoretical water energy reserves have reached 200 million kWh. The theoretical annual power output in Tibet is over 1.8 trillion kWh; and technically exploitable amount, 116,000 megawatts. There are more than 340 rivers, with water energy reserves exceeding 10 megawatts each.
Among all of the rivers in Tibet, the Yarlung Zangbo, Nujiang, Lancang and Jinsha rivers boast the richest water energy reserves, making up 85.6 per cent of the total technically exploitable water energy reserves in the region.
But unique natural and geological conditions have made the distribution of water energy reserves quite uneven. Southeastern Tibet boasts 54.8 per cent of the total water volume and 70 per cent of the total water energy reserves in the region.
The region has so far constructed over 400 hydropower stations, with a combined annual power output reaching 43 billion kWh, only 6.99 per cent of the technically exploitable amount.
