China's Qinghai breaks ground on another pumped-storage power station

This photo taken on Aug. 19, 2023 shows the commencement ceremony of a pumped-storage power station project in Golmud City, the Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Northwest China's Qinghai Province has started construction on a pumped-storage power station -- another project in western China, which has abundant clean energy resources. (Xinhua)

XINING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Qinghai Province has started construction on a pumped-storage power station -- another project in western China, which has abundant clean energy resources.

The power station will be located at an altitude of 3,200 to 3,700 meters in the city of Golmud in the Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

It will be a hydropower station that uses electricity to pump water to be stored at a higher location, and then releases the water to generate electricity when the power supply is insufficient.

The station's total installed capacity will be 2.4 million kilowatts. Once operational, it is estimated that it will replace about 4.63 million tonnes of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 26.64 million tonnes per year.

Earlier this month, Qinghai started construction on a pumped-storage power station with a maximum energy storage capacity of about 20 million kWh in the province's Guinan County in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Qinghai expects to see its installed new energy capacity exceed 100 million kilowatts by 2030.