Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Hydroelectric power plant the giant Baihetan in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China, officially activated for the first time on Monday (28/6).
The project’s first two 1-gigawatt (GW) turbines will be operational once the three-day trial is complete.
The project will consist of 16 units, making it the second largest plant in the world, only behind the Three Gorges dam which is scheduled for completion in July next year.
Launch Reuters, Tuesday (29/6), Baihetan was built by China Three Gorges Corporation and is located on the border between the southwest province of Yunnan and Sichuan. Baihetan is part of a cascade of dams on the Jinsha River, which is the headwaters of the Yangtze River.
Although recognized as one of the largest and most challenging engineering projects in China with a dam height of 289 meters, Three Gorges Corporation built Baihetan in just four years.
Chinese state media reported the achievement with bombast, with CCTV and Xinhua focusing on the state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing capabilities required. President Xi Jinping also supported the inauguration of the dam in a letter published yesterday.
“As a major project in China’s east-west power transmission program, Baihetan is the largest and most technically difficult hydroelectric project currently under construction in the world,” Xi said.
The project is part of a national scheme to generate electricity and deliver it to high energy consuming areas on the east coast. The power plant is also designed to strengthen control over the flow of water during the hot summer season.
An ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power transmission line connecting Baihetan to the eastern province of Jiangsu began construction in late 2020 and is expected to launch in 2022.
Another UHV from Baihetan to eastern China’s Zhejiang province is awaiting Beijing’s approval.
Provinces in eastern and central China with larger populations and more developed economies have experienced electricity shortages during periods of high demand.
In addition, regions that used to rely on coal for power generation are scrambling to switch to environmentally friendly sources of electricity, especially from areas in western China, to boost the economy amid pressure from the central government to meet carbon emission targets.
In the five-year plan for the 2021-2025 period, Sichuan province aims to complete the construction of 10 hydroelectric power projects and start building another seven plants.
On the other hand, environmental observers have criticized the large-scale dam of the Yangtze River and its tributaries for fearing the river’s over-engineering has destroyed key habitats and damaged natural floodplains.
(wel/one)
– .
