Nepal, which used to have electricity only 10 hours a day and was limited by India, has now stood up! Not only does it generate electricity 24 hours a day, but it can also sell excess electricity to India!
The reason why Nepal was able to counterattack gorgeously was due to China's construction of the Shangta Maxi Hydropower Station, which allowed Nepal to have its own "Three Gorges".
A dam was built on a 2,000-meter-high mountain
For many years, Nepal has been unable to get rid of the term "poverty", and the country's geographical restrictions have also hindered the country's development to a certain extent.
The land area is not large, but there are 8 peaks over 8,000 meters, and there is one of the world's highest peaks standing next to it. It is no exaggeration to say that the mountains at an altitude of 1 km occupy half of the country's land area. It may be that the mountains are high everywhere, and the infrastructure capacity is weak, that the electrification of Nepal has become a huge problem.
In 2000, their electricity supply was mainly imported from India, which was not only expensive but also unstable, and the transmission of electricity in two batches a day was carried out in two batches, and the districts strictly followed the schedule, and the daily power supply time was only about 6 hours.
In 2006, the mainland project manager went to Nepal and found that although the country is mountainous, it has abundant water resources, which can be developed about 43 million kilowatts.
After four years, the mainland infrastructure team officially built the project at an altitude of 2,000 meters in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, this time on a huge scale, which will be the country's first and largest power station.
However, building dams is not a simple project. Since the construction site is set up on a 2,000-meter high mountain, it is equivalent to building from scratch in an undeveloped area, and it is necessary to build a road that is easy to pass and transport equipment, and then the road can be repaired before the construction can begin.
Once everything was ready, the construction process was difficult. Lei Chunhua, the project manager, recalled the construction process back then, saying, "The technical difficulty is great, and the rainy season has experienced an 8.1 magnitude earthquake, which is really not easy!"
During the construction, two huge deep shafts were drilled, and the combined depth was nearly 700 meters, and you must know that a 70-meter-high floor is only about 210 meters, and a shaft is equivalent to 100 floors high, which is incredible.
The geological structure on the mountain is relatively hard, mostly rocky, and the excavation process is also very difficult, so if one way does not work, the other way to dig is changed. In the process of excavation, there were also multiple problems such as continuous water seepage and difficult deployment of equipment, and the surrounding area was also affected during the excavation process, and the road could not be transported due to landslides and rolling stones in the rainy season.
In order to deliver the work smoothly, the construction team worked on the mountain for half a year. After the shaft was dug well, the second problem came head-on, and the concrete needed to be poured at a depth of more than 300 meters. Finally, the team used our homegrown concrete pumps to start pouring from the bottom up. Finally gnawed off the difficult "bones".
I thought that everything would go smoothly, but I didn't expect that during the construction process in 2015, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake was encountered. In an instant, the mountains shook, and the people who were working were frightened.
In just one minute, communications and satellites were cut off, and roads collapsed, not only worrying about personal safety, but also about the project that had been painstakingly built for many years. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the earthquake, and subsequent construction resumed soon after the earthquake ended.
From power shortages to exports
After nine years, the Three Gorges Giant Hydropower Station in Nepal, with a total length of 100 meters and a dam height of 27 meters, was completed. This hydropower station is not only large, but also powerful. The country's electricity consumption is about 1.5 million kilowatts, and it can produce 1.7 million kilowatts of electricity, with a surplus of 200,000 kilowatts.
After its completion, Nepal has undergone tremendous changes, from the initial power shortage, to complete self-sufficiency, and even surplus electricity can be used for export, this hydropower station is also praised as the Three Gorges of Nepal!
After the completion of this hydropower station, it has also become an Internet celebrity check-in project for local people, who have come to take photos and videos to witness the historical moment.
In the past, they needed to import electricity from India, but in 2022, they signed an electricity export agreement with India and began to sell electricity in reverse!
The completion of the hydropower station is of great significance to Nepal. But why would our country help them build hydropower plants, and what benefits would this be for us?
In fact, it is not once or twice that the mainland has helped foreign countries to build infrastructure, and our Chinese infrastructure team can be seen all over the world. This time, we helped Nepal to build a hydropower station, mainly to solve the electricity problem of the local people and improve their life happiness index.
Due to Nepal's proximity to the mainland border, if the country's electricity level is well developed and can be exported to the surrounding areas, this will be beneficial to the Tibetan people living near the Tibetan Plateau. It can transport electricity from Nepal to Tibet, and it can also indirectly make Tibet and uninhabited areas have no worries about electricity.
The mainland's infrastructure workers will also adopt a one-belt-one-belt model to cultivate talents in the power sector for Nepal, and try to "teach people to fish".
How important the Three Gorges of Nepal are
For Nepal, the completion of a hydropower plant could be a game-changer.
In the past, they were short of electricity resources and relied on imports for their daily electricity, and if the importing country had a bad relationship with them or suddenly did not want to cooperate with them, the whole country would fall into a bottleneck crisis.
After the construction of its own hydropower station, it can be said that the power problem has been completely solved, which can not only meet everyone's daily needs, but also have a surplus.
People in the 60s and 70s on the mainland felt the changes in electrification more deeply, and we also faced difficulties in electrification a few decades ago, until we had our own technology, and we were able to complete the electrification of villages in 1997. With electricity, life will be more convenient, and the happiness index of life will be greatly improved.
Having abundant electricity resources to provide 24-hour electricity to the local population in Nepal is a great change.
As we all know, the development of industry is inseparable from electricity, and the reason why Nepal has been poor for many years is also closely related to their lack of electricity.
According to statistics, after the completion of the hydropower station, their country's GDP will be increased.
After the electrification, they can also gradually develop industry, no longer just rely on agriculture as a supporting industry, and believe that the country will become richer and better.
India's power generation is actually not low, ranking fourth in the world in 2022, but the country's main electricity comes from thermal power.
Everyone may know about hydropower, wind power, solar power and other power generation methods, but little is known about thermal power. This is a type of electricity generation that uses coal, oil, natural gas, etc. as raw materials to burn and convert heat energy into electricity. Water, wind, and solar energy belong to new energy sources, while thermal power mainly uses non-renewable resources, which pollute the environment greatly.
India's local coal resources are relatively abundant, but they also need to import a large amount of foreign resources every year to meet their own needs.
Resources will be used up one day, and coal is getting more expensive every year, and India relies on firepower for most of its electricity, can there be no pressure?
As a result, when Nepal's hydropower plants are built and there is a surplus for export, India will have to sign contracts with them to buy electricity to meet its own electricity needs. Compared with burning a large amount of coal to generate electricity, it is more cost-effective than importing hydropower from neighboring countries, and it is clear at a glance.
Since then, the relationship between supply and demand between Nepal and India has changed dramatically with the completion of hydropower plants. From being dependent on imports and lacking electricity to becoming an exporter of electricity, Nepal has completely turned around in terms of electricity.
Being able to see that China's infrastructure has benefited Nepal and even more countries can't help but be proud of the country. If China becomes stronger and stronger, and relies on its own strength to help more countries in need, this is the Chinese pattern!