China Huaneng's Longkaikou Hydropower Station Begins Reservoir Impounding

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--The gates on the diversion tunnels for Huaneng Longkaikou Hydropower Company Limited's (HLHC) (Kunming, Yunnan) Longkaikou Hydropower Station were closed on November 25, 2012, marking the beginning of reservoir impounding for the project, according to an announcement from Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 8 (Changsha, Hunan), the construction contractor of the project, on November 26.

The Longkaikou Hydropower Station, located in Longkaikou Town in Heqing County, in Southwest China's Yunnan province, is the sixth project of the hydropower development scheme--consisting of a reservoir with eight cascade power stations--that is planned on the middle reaches of Jinsha River. As the owner of the project and a subsidiary of China Huaneng Group (Beijing), HLHC is responsible for the development and future operation of the project. HydroChina Huadong Engineering Corporation (Shanghai) is responsible for the design and engineering of the project.

According to plans, the project mainly comprises of a 119-meter-high, roll-compacted, concrete gravity dam; a spillway integrated with the dam; and a river-bed type powerhouse with a total installed capacity of 1,800 megawatts (MW), including five vertical Francis hydraulic turbine generating units, each of 360 MW.

There are two diversion tunnels located at the No. 6 and 7 dam sections, respectively, in Longkaikou Hydropower Station. Each gate for the blocking of the diversion tunnel is 14.52 meters long, 10.16 meters wide, 2.16 meters thick and weights 210 metric tons. According to the arrangement, the gate at No. 6 dam section will be closed immediately, and the gate at No. 7 dam section will be closed to maintain a minimum opening of 3 meters in the initial stage, and then fully closed when water can be discharged from the bottom outlet of the dam.

Successful closing of the gates to specified position has paved a firm foundation for the timely commissioning of the first unit by the end of this year.

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