China's mega hydropower station starts producing green energy

China's mega hydropower station, the 16-gigawatt Baihetan hydropower plant, was put into operation and started generating green electricity on Tuesday.

The plant will play a key role in the new power system in the country as China goes full throttle on its green energy transition to peak carbon emissions.

After 72 hours of trial run, the Baihetan hydropower plant, located downstream from the Jinsha River on the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwestern parts of China, has the world's largest installed capacity of a single generating unit and the world's second-largest in terms of overall installed capacity, said its operator China Three Gorges Corp.

With 16 of the world's largest hydropower generating units, each having an installed capacity of one gigawatt, the station can generate 62,443 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to provide electricity consumption of about 75 million people, it said.

An analyst said hydropower is more stable compared with other renewable energy and will play a key role in the new power system in the future.

China plans to build large hydroelectric dams, especially in the southwestern regions due to the abundant hydropower resources, said Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute.

"The operation of the station will further facilitate making the southwestern parts a key renewable energy center with hydropower as a key player."

As a major power source for China's west-to-east power transmission project, the project is expected to make substantial contribution to China's efforts to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Along with the 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam, China has built the world's largest new energy corridor on the Yangtze River.

The Baihetan project had generated over 53 billion kWh of electricity since the commissioning of the first two units in June 2021 and has provided massive green power to regions including Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.