CTG’s Baihetan dam achieves world’s first zero counterweight runner balancing

Baihetan Hydropower Station, owned and built by China Three Gorges Corp (CTG), saw its third hydraulic generator’s runner for dam’s right bank successfully installed on March 21, making it the world’s first zero counterweight giant runner.

Zero counterweight refers to a manufacturing state in which the runner can meet the residual required torque imbalance without the need for a lead-filled counterweight during a static balance test. It represents the highest level of hydropower runner balancing manufacturing capabilities.

With a total installed capacity of 16 GW, Baihetan Hydropower Station will install eight one-gigawatt hydraulic generators on the left and right bank respectively.

The splitter blade runners used on the right bank of Baihetan dam were produced by Harbin Electric Machinery Company Limited on site. They are 3.8 m in height and 8.9 m in diameter and weigh almost 340 tons, the equivalent of eight heavy-duty tanks. The splitter blade runners operate at a maximum speed of 192 km/h on the outer edge.