Construction of SW China mega pumped storage hydropower project underway

CHENGDU, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Construction of a large pumped storage hydropower project kicked off Thursday in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The reservoir of the Lianghekou hydropower plant on the Yalong River, which will not need to be scaled up, will serve as the upper reservoir of the new facility -- the first pumped storage hydropower project in Sichuan.

The reservoir of another power plant downstream, which will need be expanded, will serve as the lower reservoir of this facility.

In addition to water pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir, the project under construction will also use natural water sources, such as rainwater and river runoff -- that flow into the upper reservoir -- to produce electricity.

Four reversible hydro-generator units, each with a capacity of 300,000 kW, are planned to be installed. Combined with the existing 3-million-kW installed capacity of the Lianghekou hydropower plant, the total installed capacity of the new project is expected to reach 4.2 million kW.

With an altitude of 3,000 meters, the facility, upon its completion, will become China's highest massive pumped storage hydropower project, as well as the world's largest pumped storage project with multiple water sources for power generation.

The construction of the project will further support Sichuan's socio-economic development, said Wang Haibo, general manager of the State Development & Investment Corp., Ltd., which is a major shareholder of the project's developer.

It is also of great significance for optimizing the power supply structure of the power grid, safeguarding national energy security and boosting the large-scale development of clean energy, Wang added.