First Unit of Jinping II Hydropower Station Begins Operations

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources China (Beijing, China)--The first unit of Yalong River Hydropower Development Company Limited's (Chengdu, Sichuan) Jinping II Hydropower Station began operations on December 30, 2012, according to an announcement from Power Construction Corporation of China (PCCC) (Beijing), the project contractor, on December 31, 2012.

The Jinping II is a hydropower station with the largest installed capacity and the highest head planned on the mainstream of Yalong River, a major tributary of the Changjiang River, in the Sichuan province. The project is located downstream from the 3,600-megawatt (MW) Jinping I Hydropower Station. Through the excavation of four 16.67-kilometer power diversion tunnels, each with a diameter of 12.4 meters to 13 meters, the project is furnished with eight hydraulic turbine generating units, each of 600 MW, by using the 310 meters of water drop gained from a large bend in the Yalong River.

The project is designed by HydroChina Huadong Engineering Corporation (Hangzhou, Zhejiang) and constructed by Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 5. Both companies are subsidiary of PCCC. As reported, Unit 2 of the project passed the 72-hour trial operation and was put into commercial operations by the end of 2012. The project has achieved its objective of having one tunnel with two units commissioned in 2012.

Construction of the power diversion tunnel kicked off in 2007. In November 2008, the project achieved main river diversion. In May 2012, the construction of the No. 1 power diversion tunnel was fully completed. Reservoir impounding for the project began in October 2012.

According to the schedule, the remaining six units will be put into operation in two years, and the entire project will be completed in 2015. Upon completion, the project will play an important role in promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, as well as in optimizing the power source structure in China by reducing standard coal consumption by about 11.3 million metric tons, and reducing the emission of about 180,000 metric tons of sulfur oxide and 18.5 million metric tons of carbon oxide every year.

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