China’s Baihetan Hydropower Station, the world’s second-largest hydropower facility, has marked a significant achievement.
China’s Baihetan Hydropower Station, the world’s second-largest hydropower facility, has marked a significant achievement. Since its commencement in 2021, the station has generated over 100 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, resulting in a reduction of approximately 82.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Situated on the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, spanning across the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan in southwestern China, this 16-gigawatt (GW) hydroelectric plant ranks as the world’s second-largest power station, following the 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam.
Designed to yield an average of 62 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, the station has the capacity to meet the energy needs of approximately 75 million people on a yearly basis.
The ambitious project boasts 16 of the largest hydropower-generating units globally, each with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts, strategically positioned along the Jinsha River’s banks.
In conjunction with neighboring power stations, it forms the world’s most extensive new energy corridor. When combined with the Xiluodu Station (13.86 GW), Wudongde Station (10.2 GW), and Xiangjiaba Station (6.4 GW) along the Jinsha River, the total capacity surpasses twice that of the Three Gorges Dam.
Baihetan also plays a crucial role in China’s west-to-east power transmission initiative, which aims to distribute electricity generated in the western regions to the eastern parts of the country.
China’s Baihetan Hydropower Station is the second-largest hydropower plant in the world, located on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, southwest China. It has an installed capacity of 16,000 MW, equivalent to the electricity needs of over 26 million people.
The dam is 289 meters tall and 72 meters wide at the base, and it creates a reservoir with a total capacity of 17.9 billion cubic meters. The hydropower station generates clean electricity that helps to reduce China’s reliance on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.