Dams on Machu/Yellow River/Huanghe (Northeast Tibetan Plateau)

I am pleased to publish this map of hydropower projects on the upper Yellow River known as Machu (????) [??????] in Tibetan and Huanghe in Chinese. Many thanks to my amazing map maker and to all others, especially Bruce Lee, who have provided us information and corrective feedback. If you find the following map of dams in Northeast Tibetan Plateau of interest, check out related maps of the eastern edges of the Tibetan Plateau as well. We are working on more maps, so please stay tuned.





For the sake of simplicity and accuracy a project's Status has only four possible values: Built/Operational, Under Construction, Under Active Consideration, and Proposed. The term "Built" includes HPPs that have started generating power but are not complete, as well as those that have been operational but are currently non-functional. "Under Construction" indicates that work is proceeding on the ground and does not necessary entail that the river has been blocked or diverted. "Under Active Consideration" includes those HPPs that are those projects which the design, environmental issues, financing etc. are being developed as well as those that have been discussed but have never made it to the drawing board in any serious way. "Cancelled" includes only those projects for which there is widespread agreement that the government has decided that the proposed projects will not go ahead. This does not mean that a similar project may not be in the works to get around of the cancellation of the original project.

Capacity is given in Megawatts. This should be understood to be the planned maximum rated power generation capacity of the generators of a HPP when it is completed. While every effort has been made to assure their accuracy, these figures are often given somewhat different values in different sources. Power generation capacity of hydropower generators is developing quickly so they may change.

Information shared here are obtained from the Northwest Hydro Consulting Engineers, CHECC, a Qinghai government website, and a number of other web based resources. Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information.

The maps are only approximately to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate. A professional map should be used for more accurate geographic information.