Advertorial

East China's biggest hydropower plant in full operation

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: Jun 30, 2022

51_副本.png

An aerial view of the Changlongshan pumped storage power station in Anji county, Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

The Changlongshan pumped storage power station, the largest pumped storage hydropower facility in East China in terms of installed capacity, achieved maximum operational capacity when its sixth and final power unit was put into use on June 30.

The station, which is equipped with six pumped storage power units with a total installed capacity of 2.1 million kilowatts, can generate nearly 2.5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year.

The power station broke ground in Huzhou's Anji county in February 2017, before its first power unit became operational in June 2021.

The project has already set a number of world records. For example, it has a water head of up to 756 meters, the highest among all commissioned pumped storage power stations in the world.

In addition, the station's units have a rated speed of 600 revolutions per minute – the fastest in the world.

According to Ning Yun, head of Anji, the Changlongshan station will provide a more stable power supply for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and bolster the nation's goal to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

To date, the station has provided 1.5 billion kWh of electricity for the delta, a region encompassing the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui as well as Shanghai municipality, official data show.

It is also expected to reduce emission of carbon dioxide by about 420,000 metric tons and sulfur dioxide by 2,800 tons annually after all units are put into operation, according to a simulation analysis.

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a type of hydroelectric energy storage. It is a configuration in which two water reservoirs at different elevations generate power as water moves down through a turbine from one to the other.

On a full charge, the station can generate more than 6 million kWh of electricity, equivalent to the normal daily consumption of nearly one million households, according to Liu Guoping, an employee at China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC).

The Changlongshan station is located adjacent to the Tianhuangping pumped-storage power station, which is also in Anji county. The combined installed capacity of the two facilities currently stands at 3.9 million kilowatts.