[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
No Subject
Ertan Hydro Dam Unable to Stem Losses
Financial Times, 29 October 1999
China's largest hydroelectric dam, built with the biggest project loan
ever extended by the World Bank, is running at about half capacity and
making a hefty loss, executives and bankers recently announced.
The bleak situation at the $3.4bn Ertan Hydropower Station, which
started operating late last year, may further complicate the implementation
of the controversial $29.5bn Three Gorges dam across the Yangzi river.
A manager at Ertan said that the dam is expected to lose more than
Rmb1bn this year. Losses are expected to spiral next year after the last
two of six turbines are installed for a total generating capacity of 3,300MW.
The fundamental problem is that Sichuan, along with many other parts of
China, has an electricity glut after a steady slowdown in economic growth
from 12.6 percent in 1994 to a predicted 7 percent this year. A second,
but potentially more serious problem, is that the electricity generated at
Ertan is significantly more expensive than that produced by smaller power
stations that have sprung up since Ertan's inception in 1991.