A megadam test for China and South Asia.

Schmitt, Rafael J P; Eyler, Brian · Science · 2025

editorial · Level V

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Abstract

China has begun construction on what may become the world's most ambitious effort to harness mighty rivers to generate electricity. The 60-gigawatt Lower Yarlung Tsangpo Hydropower Project portends a new frontier in renewable energy but also reopens long-standing questions about managing rivers that cross national borders and the unintended impacts of hydropower megaprojects on people and ecosystems depending on rivers.