Three times more powerful than the Three Gorges Dam – which, by its sheer weight, already influences the Earth’s rotation – the Moyuo project has aroused as much fascination as criticism, not least because of its location on the Tibetan plateau.
A project of unprecedented scale in the heart of Tibet
China has confirmed the launch of the Motuo dam, a hydroelectric project of unprecedented ambition. Valued at 165 billion dollars, it could eventually generate 60 GW of electricity, equivalent to the installed nuclear capacity of France. This new dam would shatter the records set by the Three Gorges Dam (22 GW), whose impounded water mass – estimated at 39 cubic kilometres – has already been recognised for its influence on the Earth’s rotation.
The site chosen for Motuo, on the Tibetan plateau, is not neutral, since it is a highly strategic point, both for the energy potential it offers and for its location on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, which becomes the Brahmaputra in India. By placing a structure of this scale at the headwaters of major river basins, Beijing is securing a lever of control over water, an increasingly scarce resource in China – the country is home to 18% of the world’s population, but only 6% of the world’s freshwater reserves.
On a national scale, this project is part of an energy policy based on the simultaneous expansion of renewable and thermal energies. China is installing more solar panels than the rest of the world, while continuing to build coal-fired power stations. In this context, hydroelectricity, which is controllable and does not emit carbon, appears to be a strategic complement. The Motuo dam is the centrepiece of 193 hydroelectric projects, 80% of which have a capacity of over 100 MW.
Water control and geopolitical tensions
But this river development frenzy is not without consequences. The Motuo dam, like many previous projects, has been widely criticised. The NGO International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is particularly critical of the lack of consultation with the local population. Far from being symbolic, this is a structural issue: according to ICT data, 120,000 people have already been displaced by dams in the region, and up to a million additional evictions could be necessary if the projects in the pipeline go ahead.
The river in question flows through Tibet and then India, before feeding Bangladesh. Beijing has given assurances that Motuo will have “no negative effects downstream”, but New Delhi has already promised to “protect its interests”. By blocking access to the headwaters of major river basins, China could impose a form of water dependency on its neighbours, in a region where 1.8 billion people depend on these resources for their survival.
Diplomatic tensions aside, the very feasibility of the project is being called into question, as the Tibetan plateau is a seismic zone, making the stability of such a massive dam uncertain. What’s more, the effects of global warming – melting glaciers, prolonged droughts, unpredictable floods – are making the flow of major mountain rivers increasingly unstable. This imbalance poses a direct threat to the profitability and safety of these facilities.
