China operates the world's tallest hydroelectric dam

According to Interesting Engineering, China Energy Investment Corp. on August 31 announced that generating unit 3 of the Songjiangkou hydroelectric plant in Sichuan province began operating, marking all three units of the first phase of the project into operation. This is a big step forward in the world's highest dam construction project and one of the large-scale hydroelectric projects on the Dai Do River. The project helps increase power supply to Sichuan and the Chengdu-Chongqing area, especially when demand is high. The project is also part of China's hydropower expansion strategy, while increasing the ability to regulate and use water resources in the region.

The dam of Songjiangkou hydropower plant is 315 m high, the highest dam in the world. The plant has a total design capacity of 2 GW, using 4 Francis turbines, each turbine has a capacity of 500 MW. The reservoir behind the dam has the capacity to store about 2.9 billion m³ of water. Located upstream of Dai Do River, the project not only generates electricity but also supports flood control and water resource management.

The large scale of the reservoir allows the operator to proactively adjust the water flow depending on electricity demand and seasonal weather conditions, contributing to increasing the security of supply, while also helping the regional power grid to be more stable when the load fluctuates.

Sharing with Global Times, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Energy Economics Research Center at Xiamen University, said the importance of the project goes beyond electricity production. According to him, such flexible regulation capabilities are increasingly important as wind and solar power capacity increases rapidly. Hydropower using large reservoirs can play a role in balancing fluctuations from renewable energy sources depending on natural conditions.

Songjiangkou Factory was built in a high altitude area with difficult geological and geographical conditions. Low temperatures and a short effective construction season add to the challenges for the engineering team working on this massive project. Experts point out that the project demonstrates China's ability to develop super-high rockfill dams and flood discharge systems.

China continues to increase hydropower capacity in its large-scale clean energy development strategy. China's National Energy Administration announced on July 30 that the country added 6.03 gigawatts of hydropower capacity in the first half of the year. Traditional hydropower accounts for 3.03 gigawatts, while pumped storage projects contribute an additional 3 gigawatts. As of the end of June, China's total installed hydropower capacity had reached 454 gigawatts. Major power producers produced 588.6 billion kilowatt-hours from hydropower in the first six months of the year.