China Starts World’s Second Largest Baihetan Hydropower Dam Project

• 1 July 2021
• Construction Focus
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On Monday 28 June, China began operating the world’s second largest Baihetan hydropower station on the upstream branch of China’s Yangtze River, reported Reuters.

The Baihetan dam is 948 feet tall and is located on China’s longest river at the border between the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.

In the first stage, two 1-gigawatt (GW) turbines will start operating after a three-day trial. The project will eventually consist of 16 such units, with the total capacity the second largest after the Three Gorges Dam.

The project was built by the China Three Gorges Corporation and is expected to be 100% complete by July next year.

Once fully operational, the hydropower dam will be able to supply power to over 500,000 people for an entire year.

Though the Three Gorges Corporation said it was one of China’s biggest and most challenging engineering projects, it has taken only four years to build.

President Xi Jinping endorsed the dam in a letter published on Monday.

“As a major project in China’s west-east power transmission program, Baihetan is the largest and most technically difficult hydropower project currently under construction in the world,” said President Xi.

“The project has marked a major breakthrough in China’s high-end equipment manufacturing,” he added.

• Energy and Environment
• Mega Infrastructure and Engineering