Chinese Government provides funding for Wangjianglou Power Station Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#63941)

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 this agreement, the two governments agreed to construct the Changchuan [or Wenyue or 文岳(长川] Power Station (captured via Project ID#63941) and the Wangjianglou [or Lintu or 望江楼(林土) Power Station (captured via Project ID#63943). China-Korea Hydropower Company (中朝水力发电公司) — a joint venture of the two governments established in 1955 — is responsible for both power stations. The purpose of the Wangjianglou (Lintu) Power Station Project is to construct a power plant along the Yalu River — with a total installed capacity of 40,000 kilowatts and annual power generation of 154 million kilowatt hours — in Wangjiang Village, Qingshi Town, Ji'an City, 36 kilometers away from the urban area and 1.5 kilometers away from Chaofang Lintu Railway Station. The project involves the construction of a concrete gravity dam, sluice gate, power house, and substation. The dam is 397 meters long, and the general dam is 16 meters high, with 13 sluice gates. The watershed area of the interval is 387 square kilometers, the normal water storage level is 208 meters, the reservoir area is 334,000 square meters, the storage capacity is 16 million cubic meters, and the water head is 10 meters. Upon completion, the Wangjianglou (Lintu) Power Station is expected to generate RMB 84 million of revenue. Dongfang Electric Corporation is the contractor responsible for implementation. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 31, 2010. However, the project did not commence until October 2015. The installation and the commissioning of electromechanical equipment was completed in August 2020. Then, on March 3, 2021, the first power generation unit (Unit 4) was connected to the grid. Sources differ on the cost of the project. Some sources indicate that the cost of the project is RMB 600 million ($88 million) and others suggest that it is RMB 1.37 billion. It is also unclear if this project is being funded with a grant, loan, or equity. This issue requires further investigation.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Lintu Dam Project or the Wangjianglou Dam Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 望江楼电站 or 望江楼（林土）or 望江楼电站工程项目. 2. One source suggests that a project company/special purpose vehicle called 东北电网有限公司望江楼水电站建设局 (or 望江楼水电站工程建设局) rather than the China-Korea Hydropower Company is responsible for the financing, implementation, and maintenance of the Wangjianglou Dam. This issue merits further investigation. 3. 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.

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

14