Construction begins on $3.7B China dam

SHANGHAI, China --Construction has begun on a $3.7 billion dam in southwestern China that will displace from 88,000 to about 150,000 people, local media reported Monday.

The 6-gigawatt project Xiangjiaba dam on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the nearby 12.6-gigawatt Xiluodu dam together are expected to match or exceed the capacity of the Three Gorges dam, which sits downstream on the Yangtze, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported.

A gigawatt equals 1 billion watts.

Construction of the Xiangjiaba project formally began Sunday and due to be completed by 2015.

China plans to build another 12 hydropower stations along the upper reaches of the Yangtze, known as the Jinsha river, to help meet soaring demand from booming industries.

Hydroelectric power is viewed as a relatively clean alternative to the heavily polluting coal-fired plants that are the country's main source of energy. But some critics have questioned the environmental and social impacts of so many huge projects.

"The project will have to face manifold challenges, including environmental protection and resettlement of residents," Fan Qixiang, a vice president of China Three Gorges Project Corp., which is also building Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu, told the China Daily.

About 1.3 million people were moved to make way for the $22 billion Three Gorges project after construction went ahead despite complaints over high cost and worries that the dam will trap and concentrate pollution.

Fan said that planning for Xiangjiabe began in the late 1950s.