The Yalong river, a major tributary on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river, is to see construction commence on a new hydro generation station this month, local media reports.

Ertan Hydropower Development Co is developing the project, the second-tiered Jinping hydro power plant, located 17km downstream from the first-tiered Jinping plant now under construction.

The yuan 29.8B (US$3.8B) project will have 4.8GW installed capacity and is scheduled to be finished in 2014.

Construction has also begun on the 6GW Xiangjiaba hydro power project in Southwest China in Sichuan Province. The yuan 28.9B (US$3.69B) project is on the Jinsha river near Yibin. When completed in 2015, Xiangjiaba will generate about 31TWh annually.