Massive hydropower station on Yangtze opens

China began operating the world's second-largest hydropower station yesterday in what officials hailed as a milestone toward Beijing's carbon neutrality goals, despite warnings of environmental damage.

The 289-meter-high Baihetan Hydropower Station in southwest China, second in the world only to the country's Three Gorges Dam for power generation, began part operation yesterday, state media reported.

Baihetan was built with a total installed capacity of 16,000 megawatts, which means it will eventually be able to generate enough electricity each day to meet the power needs of 500,000 people for an entire year, said CCTV.

The dam spans a deep, narrow gorge on the upper section of the Yangtze, China's longest river, on the earthquake-prone border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

But environmental groups have warned for years that dam-building disrupts the habitats of rare plants and animals, including the critically endangered Yangtze Finless Porpoise.

The massive engineering projects have also displaced hundreds of thousands of people and prompted concern in neighboring countries.