Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In June 2006, Changchuan Hydroelectric Power Co. Ltd. of China’s Jilin Province and North Korea’s Electric Power and Coal Industry Ministry signed an agreement regarding the Changchuan Power Station Construction Project. Then, in January 2010, the Chinese Government and the North Korean Government signed ‘Minutes of the Ninth Meeting of China and North Korea to Construct the Yalu River Wangjiang Tower (Lintu) and Wenyue (Changchuan) Power Stations’. Under the terms of the January 2010 agreement, the two governments agreed to construct the Changchuan [or Wenyue or 文岳(长川] Power Station (captured via Record ID#63941) and the Wangjianglou [or Lintu or 望江楼(林土) Power Station (captured via Record ID#63943). China-Korea Hydropower Company (中朝水力发电公司) — a joint venture of the two governments established in 1955 — assumed responsibility for both power stations. The purpose of the Changchuan (Wenyue) Power Station Project is to construct a power plant along the Yalu River — with annual power generation of 154 million kilowatt hours (enough to power 14,000-20,000 homes) — in the village of Changchuan (Mun'ak), approximately 8 miles (13 km) north of Manpo, North Korea. The project involves the construction of a dam that is 602.7 meters long and 15.5 meters high. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 31, 2010 and satellite imagery from October 21, 2014 provides evidence of ongoing construction. The construction was originally expected to take place between 2010 and 2013. After many delays, the dam was expected to be completed in 2019. However, as of June 2021, AidData could not identify any evidence that this project reached completion. Sources differ on the cost of the project. Some sources indicate that the cost of the project is RMB 350 million ($43.75 million) and others suggest that it is RMB 500 million ($73 million). It is also unclear if this project is being funded with a grant, loan, or equity. This issue requires further investigation.
Staff comments
1. This project is also known as the Wenyue Power Station Construction Project or the Manpo-Changchuan Hydroelectric Dam Project. The Chinese project title is 文岳水电站 or 长川水电站工程. 2. China-Korea Hydropower Company operates three other hydropower plants built on the Yalu River between the 1960s and 1980s, including the giant Sup’ung Dam, which was completed by the Japanese in the early 1940s, bombed in the 1950-53 Korean War and later refurbished with Chinese assistance.”