China Energy’s Two Projects Win National Excellent Engineering Golden Awards

The list of second batch of winners of “2020-2021 national excellent engineering awards” was unveiled on December 6. The Houziyan hydropower station of Daduhe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. and China’s first offshore wind farm joint venture project Dongtai IV of Guohua Energy Investment Co., Ltd., both subsidiaries of China Energy, were granted golden awards.

Located in Kangding City, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, the Houziyan hydropower station is the ninth-tier hydroelectric project along the mainstream of the Dadu River and was designated as one of the 23 key projects of China’s Western Development Strategy in 2010. With a total installed capacity of 1.7 GW, it annually generated more than 7 billion kWh of electricity over the years since it was put into operation.

The Houziyan hydropower station.

The hydropower station broke ground in November 2011 and was put into operation in January 2017. It boasts the world’s narrowest ultra-high concrete face rockfill dam, which is also the tallest concrete face rockfill dam. Its workshops were built under the ground. The dam adopted local energy-saving materials. To protect the local ecosystem, the project avoided excavation as much as possible. It represents China’s highest-level hydropower engineering project built in a narrow, highly seismic river valley with high crustal stress and thick surface layer. Its construction advanced the development of ultra-high concrete face dams and underground workshops, making it a demonstration project.

The Dongtai IV offshore wind farm project, located in Tiaozini sea area in Jiangsu Province, has an installed capacity of 300 MW. It constitutes the Dongtai offshore wind power project together with the 200 MW Dongtai V project. With a total investment of 8 billion yuan, it is China’s first offshore wind farm joint venture.

The construction site of the Dongtai IV offshore wind farm project.

The project created a world record and five Chinese records: the world’s first project using monopile wind power generation unit installation, which helped accumulate experience to cut cost and enhance efficiency in the construction of offshore wind farm projects; China’s first offshore wind power generation unit installation and construction technology, first offshore wind farm panoramic monitoring and maintenance system, first seabed frequency-dependent area large-diameter monopile technology, first offshore booster station modularized, integrated construction technology, and first 220KV submarine cable phased construction and in-situ jointing technology in dramatically changing seabed environment.