Wudongde hydropower plant to provide wide-ranging benefits to country

Wudongde hydropower plant, owned by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), had its first batch of two power units commissioned on June 29, starting to deliver comprehensive benefits to local economic and social development.

Located on Jinsha River and the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwest China, the hydropower station serves as a major source of energy in the West-to-East Power Transmission Initiative.

China has an uneven energy resource distribution where over 80 percent of its energy sources are concentrated in the economically less developed western and northern regions of the country. Therefore, the coal-rich northern China ships the fuel to power south China while the hydropower-rich western China transmits the electricity to eastern costal region, in a pattern also known as West-to-East Power Transmission Initiative.

Jinsha River features deep valleys and high-volume runoff, unique conditions that make it a treasure trove of water resources and an important energy base for the West-to-East Power Transmission Initiative.

Wudongde hydropower plant has a total installed capacity of 10.2 million kilowatts, with the estimated annual power generating capacity of 38.91 billion kilowatt-hours. Upon its completion, clean energy will be transmitted to China Southern Power Grid to power the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Guangzhou consumed about 100.5 billion kWh of electricity in 2019, according to statistics. Based on this figure, annual capacity of Wudongde hydropower plant can power Guangzhou for nearly five months, further relieving the pressure on power supply.

The green energy generated by Wudongde will replace a massive amount of fossil fuels. It is estimated that the plant will save 12.2 million tons of standard coal and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by 30.5 million tons and 104,000 tons respectively every year, which is equivalent to planting 85,000 hectares of broad-leaved forests, helping the country achieve goals of energy conservation and emissions reductions while greatly improving the environment.

Wudongde dam, which boasts 2.44 billion cubic meters of reserved flood storage capacity (more than 170 times larger than West Lake, the renowned freshwater late in Hangzhou), will also serve as an important part of the Yangtze River Basin flood control system.

During the flood season, Wudongde hydropower plant is capable of reducing inflow to the Three Gorges Reservoir by storing Jinsha River’s flood waters. Through the coordinated operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir, the plant can further improve the flood control capacity on Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River and reduce the flood volume in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Together with the Baihetan, Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba reservoirs in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, it will further improve the flood control capacity in southwest China such as Yibin and Luzhou in Sichuan province and Chongqing.