The Xiluodu Hydropower Station, the first of four hydropower stations on Jinsha River and the second largest hydropower station in China, has reported some preliminary achievements in environmental protection.

Peng Jiyin, deputy director of the Xiluodu Project Construction Department of the Three Gorges Corporation, says soil erosion in the Jinsha River area has declined since the Xiluodu project was started in 2003, which has effectively improved and protected the ecological environment in the region. Peng says that by the end of 2006, they had spent RMB586 million on environmental protection.

Xiluodu Hydropower Station is a major west-to-east electricity transmission project and an important move to develop China's resource-rich but poor western region. Located in Xiluodu Gorge between Yongshan county of Yunnan Province and Leibo county of Sichuan Province, the project is designed to generate 12.6 million kilowatts of electricity.

The station is expected to stem the turbulent Jinsha River in November 2007, and the first generating unit will be installed in June 2012. The entire project will be completed in 2015 and will cost RMB50.34 billion.