China Huaneng Group's 420-Megawatt Lidi Hydropower Station Receives Approval

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--China Huaneng Group's (Beijing) Lidi Hydropower Station received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on February 28, 2013, according to an announcement from the National Energy Administration on March 20.

The Lidi Hydropower Station, located in Badi Town, Weixi County of Diqing Prefecture, in southwestern China's Yunnan province, is the third cascade project planned on the upstream section of the Lancang River, where the dam site has a catchment area of 86,400 square kilometers and an annual average flow of 763 cubic meters per second. The main purpose of the station will be power generation.

According to the approval, the project will mainly comprise a 75-meter-high concrete gravity dam with a reservoir capacity of 745 million cubic meters, at the normal pool level (NPL) of 1,819 meters above sea level; a riverbed powerhouse furnished with three Francis hydraulic-turbine generating units, each of 140 megawatts (MW); a left bank spillway; a right bank side dam; and the associated substation. The total installed capacity of the power station will be 420 MW, with an annual average output of about 1.75 billion kilowatt-hours.

HydroChina Xibei Engineering Corporation is responsible for the design and engineering of the project. Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Company Limited (Hydro Lancang) (Kunming, Yunnan), a subsidiary of China Huaneng Group, with joint investment from Yunnan Investment Holding Group Company Limited (Kunming, Yunnan) and Hongta Tobacco (Group) Company Limited (Kunming, Yunnan), is responsible for the development and future operation of the project.

Early in March 2009, Hydro Lancang awarded the general contract for civil construction, mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as metal structure installation, to Sinohydro Bureau 14 Company. Site preparation of the project kicked off in May 2009. The project was planned to achieve river diversion at the end of 2010. Due to the delay in permitting, construction of the project did not kick off until October 2012. According to the latest schedule, the project will begin operations in 2015.

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