World's 2nd-largest hydropower China's Baihetan generates 100 billion kWh in 2 years - CGTN
World's No.2 hydropower Baihetan generates 100 billion kWh in 2 years - CGTN
An aerial view of China's Baihetan Hydropower Station in southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 21, 2023. /CFP
The world's second-largest hydropower station, China's Baihetan Hydropower Station, has hit a new milestone.
The power station has generated over 100 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity cumulatively since commencing operation in 2021, equivalent to 82.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction.
Located on the Jinsha River, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and running through Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwestern China, the plant is a 16 gigawatt (GW) hydroelectric facility, the world's second-largest power station after the 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam.
The station is designed to generate 62 billion kWh of clean electricity annually on average, enough to meet the annual demand of 75 million people.
The mega-project is equipped with 16 of the world's largest hydropower-generating units perched along the banks of the Jinsha River, each with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts.
Along with other power stations nearby, it helps form the world's largest new energy corridor. The other projects along the Jinsha River, the 13.86 GW Xiluodu Station, the 10.2 GW Wudongde Station and the 6.4 GW Xiangjiaba Station, bring the total capacity to more than twice the Three Gorges'.
Baihetan is also a part of China's west-to-east power transmission project – an effort to transfer the power generated in western regions to the east.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: hydropower
Hydropower — electricity generated by turbines capturing energy from moving water — was for many years the primary contributor of renewable energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Its growth was rapid into the 1970s, and since then has offered a stable supply of power, while a declining share of all generation. For many years, hydropower was seen as clean energy and an unalloyed good, but a greater understanding of the impact of dams on ecosystems and wildlife has led to the removal of some dams. As of 2019, hydropower trails wind as a renewable source of power generation.