The first group of electricity-generation units at the Wudongde Hydropower Station, China's fourth-largest and the world's seventh-largest hydropower project, went into operation on June 29. 

The station, which is located on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in Southwest China, has a total installed capacity of 10.2 million kilowatts, with an estimated annual power generating capacity of 38.91 billion kilowatt-hours.

Construction on the project began in 2015, and all electricity-generation units are expected to be put into use by 2021. 

As a major power source of the "West-to-East Power Transmission Project”, Wudongde is the first dam in the world to fully utilize low-heat cement, which is able to withstand large temperature differences.

Temperature differences cause cracking of concrete and threatens the safety of dams, and is a worldwide problem in hydropower engineering.

The station plays a strategically significant role in promoting the adjustment of the national energy structure, achieving the goal of energy conservation and emission reduction, promoting the protection and poverty alleviation of the Yangtze River, and accelerating the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.