On Monday, China has launched 2 units of a massive Hydropower station in Baihetan with an approximate cost of about USD 34 billion. It is the World’s Largest Hydropower Station.
Baihetan hydropower station is the largest and most technically difficult hydropower project under construction in the world. The hydropower station is located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River, and straddles the south-western provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. The project is an ultra-high double-curvature arch dam with a maximum height of 289 meters and an arc length of 709 meters. The concrete pouring for the dam was started in April 2017 and ended in late May 2021.
Baihetan hydro-power station is equipped with 16 hydro-generating units, each has a capacity of generating 1 million kilowatt. Therefore, Baihetan hydro-power station can generate a total of 16 million kilowatts.
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It is reported that the first two such units are running steadily in the station’s underground powerhouse. All the units are scheduled to be operational by July 2022 with a capacity of generating over 62.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year on average.
Lei Mingshan, chairman of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) said –
All the core technologies of the Baihetan hydropower station are independently developed. The operation of the first generating units marks a breakthrough in China’s construction of large-scale hydropower projects,
Baihetan hydro-power project is expected to save about 19.68 million tonnes of standard coal. This will in return reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 51.6 million tonnes, sulfur dioxide by 170,000 tonnes and nitrogen oxides by 150,000 tonnes annually. Hence a great environment as well as a climate saving project. Therefore, carbon-peak and carbon-neutralisation goals set by China can be achieved.
Also, China can now promote itself as the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development focused country.
Political analysts believe that the Baihetan hydropower station was launched ahead of the July 1 centenary celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to make it highlighted as one of its major achievements.