New power project to sustain Jiangsu's power supply

A 500-kilovolt power transmission project will be completed and officially put into operation tomorrow in Jurong, a county-level city in East China’s Jiangsu province, aimed to give support to a local pumped-storage power plant.

Endowed with abundant water resources, Jurong is home to the province’s largest pumped-storage power plant, with a total installed capacity of 1.35 million kilowatts.

The power plant stores energy using a system of two interconnected reservoirs with one at a higher elevation than the other.

Water is pumped to the upper reservoir in times of surplus energy and, in times of excess demand, water from the upper-reservoir is released, generating electricity as the water passes through reversible pump turbines on its way to the lower reservoir.

Jurong Pumped-Storage Power Plant is currently equipped with six reversible pump turbines, all of which will be connected to the power grid by next year with the help of the new power transmission project.

The power plant is expected to generate 1.35 billion kWh of electricity per year and meet the demand for electricity from 100,000 local households.

It will also help reduce coal consumption by 140,000 tons and lower the emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by nearly 357,000 tons per year.