About 88,900 local people would have to make way for the 6 gigawatt, $3.68 billion Xiangjiaba project, to be built on the lower reaches of the Jinshajiang River, a main tributary of Yangtze River, said the report.
China, wary of its mounting dependence on imported oil, is keen to boost energy to be generated from renewable sources.
Hydropower, which now makes up nearly a quarter of China’s installed generation capacity, is designated as a key area for such development.
When completed in 2015, Xiangjiaba will generate about 31 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, Xinhua said.
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