Tibetannet

Currently, in Tibet’s Metok county, the first unit hydropower station titled the "Yarang Station" as well as a power line extension project connecting it to resident household was formally put online for grid power transmission. This marks a first step in completion of the Tibet Regional Renewable Energy Department Demonstrative Grid Project aimed at areas without electricity. This marks an end to the severe power shortage history plaguing people of all upbringings in the Metok county region. Following this, Metok County’s people can finally say farewell to the unstable "power island" that they had previously used. The switched over will provide a stable and reliable local power supply.

Construction of the small Yarang hydropower station was aided by the China Huaneng Group Company. The station is located 15 kilometers to the south west of Chengxi located in Metok county. The initial installments will provide a total power production capacity of 5,000 kilowatts and the related construction started in December of 2013. Reporters learned that the power plant’s design operates via runoff water diversion. The diversion tunnel runs through the "Great Metok Fracture" and it is 1,683 meters in length. Coinciding with construction of the project, an electric power dispatch center was built, and through integrative intelligent control it is the first county level power grid in the country to achieve dispatch, transmission as well as transformation processes also equipped with "integrative regulation processes".

Construction of the Yarang hydropower station and its line extension engineering project always placed priority on environmental protection. Therein, the construction team developed a control scheme regarding soil and water loss as well as a paired implementation plan. With an optimized design, it uses an above surface diversion system. Thus it decreases pressure on surface vegetation by 87.1%. At the same time, the tunnel excavation material processing used aggregate concrete, and the actual amount of resulting waste residues barely amounted to 12% of what was expected during the original planning. In addition, there was also a significant reduction in the land surface area used as dreg sites. Furthermore, within the overall project, first sewage treatment station in Metok county was also constructed. All in all, the plant can achieve long-term operation without any significant pollution emissions.

Metok county is located in the southwest of Tibet on the Indian border, and just up until two years prior was it able to end a long history in which it had no road connection it to the outside world. “Here, the power infrastructure construction lags behind, the completion of 9 small hydropower station 2012 and the subsequent construction of the Gandeng hydropower station as well as 12 other mini hydropower stations only allowed for 2,265 kilowatts of power to be produced. The construction of these power plants was low quality, we had for a long time depended on operation of isolated power networks, and they had frequent equipment failures. Thus the power supply capacity they offer has been historically very poor." The Metok county magistrate Tashi when telling this to reporters also mentioned that originally all of the power stations were small power stations, and that the county had always been using a seasonal alternate power supply scheme, with power supplies reaching rural areas in poor standing. Now instability in the power supply has been ended, the long-term shortages of electricity are solved and therefore in the future residents will lead more productive and convenient lives.

General Manager Liu Xingguo of the Tibet Huaneng Power Co., Ltd stated that the Yarang hydropower station will be the backbone of Metok power grid. By the end of the year, 4 units will be put into full production. Furthermore, a related line extension project will be established throughout Metok county connecting power supplies to seven townships and administrative villages. After the completion of the other power plants, it will be possible to satisfy the demands for "1045" mid period full-county locations without electricity, or the needs of households lacking electrical power that meets their needs.