As of March 30, 2023, Baihetan Hydropower Station, the hydropower project with the world's second-largest installed capacity, had generated 15 billion kilowatt-hours of green power in only 100 days after full operation.
The power output equals that produced by burning 4.5 million metric tons of standard coal, and represents a reduction of about 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
A bird's-eye view of the Baihetan Hydropower Station over the Jinsha River [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
Located over the Jinsha River on the border of Southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, the Baihetan Hydropower Station was put into full operation on Dec 20, 2022.
It is the second cascade hydropower station invested, built and operated by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) over the downstream of the river.
A national major project for the country's west-to-east power transmission, it is the world's largest and most difficult-to-build hydropower project that is still under construction.
It is installed with 16 hydro-generating units, each with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, the largest single-unit capacity in the world.
A view of the inside of the underground workshop of the Baihetan Hydropower Station on the left bank of the Jinsha River [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
The station is expected to have an average annual power output of 62.44 billion kWh, equaling that produced by burning about 18.83 million tons of standard coal and constituting a reduction of about 51.7 million tons of carbon dioxide. The power can meet the domestic demands of more than 65 million people for a year.
At present, CTG has six large-scale hydropower stations over the trunk stream of the Yangtze River, which are installed with 110 hydrogenerator units and have a total installed capacity of nearly 71.7 million kilowatts, forming the largest clean energy corridor in the world.
Through coordinated operation, the six stations are expected to generate 300 billion kWh of power annually, which will effectively relieve power shortage in Central and East China as well as in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong.
They will also play a key role in improving China's energy structure and supporting the country's "dual carbon" goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
A view of the Baihetan Hydropower Station over the Jinsha River [Photo provided to sasac.gov.cn]
China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd. released a report on April 9 showing that in the first quarter of 2023 the world's largest clean energy corridor generated nearly 55.6 billion kWh of power. Among its stations, the Baihetan, Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba hydropower stations hit historical record-high production.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
