The Baihetan Hydropower Station, the world's first to have an installed unit capacity of 1 million kW, is expected to be China's second-largest hydropower project following the Three Gorges Dam when completed.
Located on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, the station is mainly used for power generation and at the same time plays a role in flood control, sediment storage and improving shipping condition on the downstream rivers and reservoirs.
Developed by Dongfang Electric Machinery Co., Ltd (DFEM), a subsidiary of Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC), the station's titanic mixed-flow water turbine-generator unit has the world's largest installed unit capacity and its highest voltage.
According to DFEM, eight 1 million kW generator units of that kind are to be set up in the underground plants on each bank of the Jinsha River where the station is located, which means that the total installed capacity of the station will be 16 million kW.
With a water energy utilization of more than 96 percent, the station can produce more than 62.44 billion kWh of power annually, enough power for a megapolis for a year.
DFEM made several innovations in design and manufacturing technologies during development of the generator unit.
The first two generator units in the station went into operation in January and July 2019. The station is now a business card of China's hydropower projects that greatly improves the competitiveness of the country's hydropower generation equipment.
DFEM is one of the world's largest power generation equipment suppliers and a global leader in development and manufacturing of such machines.
In recent ten years, it participated in construction of the Jirau hydropower plant in Brazil, which has the world's largest number of generator units and the world's largest capacity bulb tubular unit.
DFEM's builders were also involved in construction of the Gibe III Hydroelectric Power Project in Ethiopia, the largest of its kind in the country. The project has supplied 90 percent of power in Addis Ababa, the capital city, since it went into operation in 2016.
So far, the company has exported more than 300 power generation facilities to over 30 countries.
A view of the construction site of the Baihetan Hydropower Station [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
The mixed-flow water turbine-generator unit of the Baihetan Hydropower Station, developed by Dongfang Electric Machinery Co., Ltd, has the world's largest installed unit capacity and its highest voltage. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
