Baihetan dam completes concrete placement for its first section

Baihetan hydropower station, owned and operated by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), completed the concrete placement for its first dam section on November 26, a major breakthrough in the construction technology for 300-meter tall concrete double-curvature arch dams in China.

The dam, a major part of the hydropower complex, plays the critical role of retaining water and discharging flood. Baihetan hydropower station is a 300-meter tall double-curvature arch dam. Its maximum dam height is 289 meters and centre line arc length is 709 meters. The dam has a total concrete volume of 8 million m3, split into 31 sections. The main body of the dam commenced concrete placement in April 2017.

Considered as one of the most challenging engineering projects in the world, Baihetan is the first 300-meter tall arch dam to adopt low-heat cement, high-precision construction for the gate, and safe and efficient cable cranes to ensure the quality, safety and efficiency of the project.

Baihetan hydropower station is the largest hydropower project under construction in the world. With the installed capacity of 16 GW and the world’s largest single-unit generator capacity of 1GW, it expects to put the first power units into operation in July 2021.