As mentioned before in previous posts, Sichuan’s special terrain has given way to an abundance of water ways and tributaries that feed into the great Yangtze River. The advantages of multiple mountain ranges, many waterways, and great geographical advantages are suitable for the development of hydropower in the area.
When people say Sichuan is mountainous, it is more than likely that that statement is an understatement. The region is galvanized by the western area by the Tibetan Plateau and Hengduan Mountains , to the north with the Qinling Mountains, and across the Loess Plateau, east of Hunan, Hubei Xishan, the south Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the northwestern edge of the Longmen Shan , the northeast edge of Daba, the southwest edge of Liangshan, and on the southeastern edge of the Wuling Mountain.
There are more than 1,300 rivers in the province, all concentrated around four of the province’s major rivers: the Jialing, Jinsha, Min, and Tuo. The theoretical reserves of hydropower resources, the amount of technological development, and the amount of economic development all account for 1/4 of the country. There are 850 hydropower resources above 10,000 kW, and the average annual hydropower generation capacity per square kilometer is 90.146 million kWh, which is 4.6 times the national average.
Sichuan also has a large terrain drop. It is located in the first and second levels of the three major steps of mainland China, that is, in the transition zone between the first-level Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the second-level middle of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The west is scattered with plateaus and mountains, with the altitude being more than 3,000 meters. In the east are basins and hills, most of which are between 500 and 2,000 meters above sea level. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east.
There are many mountains, many waters, and large terrain differences. The gift of nature provides convenient conditions for Sichuan to develop hydropower according to local conditions. This has also become the biggest difference between Sichuan and most of the provinces that are mainly based on thermal power generation.
But on the flipside….
Mudslides, rockfalls, water erosion, abnormal flooding, etc. are normal occurrences that really push us to the limit compared to other mining farm locations in the world. As our title explicitly lays it out, Sichuan’s water resources are a double edge sword. In one instance that will be paraphrased from Feiyang, floods that are a commonality at times, was abnormally powerful forcing its way down a mountain breaking up the valley’s roadways.
In Feiyang’s own words:
“Before the summer flood season came, we were in a hurry to complete the construction of a new data center in the Ganzi prefecture. However, for whatever reason, the weather was abnormal with the rainy season arriving late. As a result, there was a huge buildup of rain when it did arrive raising water levels in the back, with large torrents and mudslides making ground. This debris flow was extremely close to us with our personnel still working on the site. The construction site itself, luckily was safe from this monstrous flood that was about to make way. But the parking and storage of materials were not so lucky. The two cars were washed away by the debris flow. After that, some materials were scrapped. To top if off, we also saw the spectacular scene of mud and stones raining from above dangerously up close. After witnessing this, all personnel were withdrawn to the computer room. At the same time, it was embarrassing that the road was finally cleared after three days with our personnel at last able to go out to buy food and other necessities. Everyone basically spent three days starving.”
To dispel the notion of being a miner is just sitting back and watching bitcoins being earned effortlessly is a perception of majorly false proportions. Blood, sweat, and tears are not the only things that excrete from the rural locations of our mining farms; floods and the likes are by far more consequential that need to be given attention by our miners, and the neighboring villagers that we have called family.
