China’s giant Wudongde hydropower project begins power generation

• 3 years ago (2020-06-30)
• David Flin

Asia 846 Hydropower 110

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China’s massive Wudonge hydropower plant, which will have a full capacity of 10GW, has begun generating power following a successful trial run.

A ceremony was held on 29 June to mark the coming on stream of the first 850MW unit of the plant, built near the provincial border of Yunnan and Sichuan on the Jinsha river, the upstream branch of the Yangtze. When complete, Wudonge hydropower plant will consist of twelve 850MW units.

Construction began on Wudongde in 2015 and will be fully completed by the end of 2021, according to the Three Gorges Project Corporation , the state-owned firm in charge of the project.

The 270m high dam is one of the tallest in the world, larger than the dam at the Three Gorges project 950km to the east, which stands at 181m. Around 32,000 residents were displaced to make way for the reservoir for the Wudongde plant.

The news agency Xinhua reported that total investment in the project stands at $17 billion.

The Wudongde project is part of a cascade of six such hydropower plants being built on the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze by the Three Gorges Project Corporation.