Jinchuan Hydropower Station saw the final concrete poured on the first section of its dam bottom for a simulated fishway project on the Dadu River in Aba Tibet and Qiang autonomous prefecture of Southwest China's Sichuan province, bringing the project one step closer to final concrete pouring in its construction.
Jinchuan Hydropower Station fishway project [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
With a total installed capacity of 860 megawatts, the hydropower station is located in Jinchuan and Maerkang of Aba and is invested and built by Dadu River Jinchuan Hydropower Construction Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CHN Energy Investment Group. As the longest simulated fishway project in Asia, it is a major infrastructural project with national support for economic and social development and energy project construction in Tibet ethnic areas in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces and one of key projects in Sichuan's 14th Five-Year Energy Construction Plan.
The hydropower station has made full of local natural watercourses in the building of a 5.02-kilometer-long simulated fishway to ensure the free migration of fish species. The infrastructural project consists of a 961.5-meter-long tunnel reserved for migrating fish species. It is expected to need a total volume of 16,000 cubic meters of concrete materials, with an excavation section in the shape of a city gate hole. The maximum width and height of the excavation section are about six meters and 9.5 meters respectively.
Dadu River Jinchuan Hydropower Construction Co., Ltd. has always made consistent efforts to promote the conservation of aquatic species resources and maintain the ecological balance of the Dadu River. In 2019, it started studies of simulated fishway core technologies and conducted multiple scientific research projects relating to the review of fish migration routes in hydropower projects, supplementary tests of the fish's swimming abilities, the phototaxis and electrotaxis behavior of fish, and in-situ observation of fish migration channels. These efforts were designed to protect the original living environment of aquatic species such as Schizothorax prenanti, Schizothorax waltoni, Schizopygopsis malacanthus chengi, Euchiloglanis davidi, and Euchiloglanis kishinouyei which are only found in the Dadu River, and safeguard ecological diversity, stability and sustainability in the river.
(Executive editor: Zhu Zeya)
