The first unit of one of the highest hydroelectric power plants in the world began operations in China in April. China Energy announced that the Maerdang Hydroelectric Power Plant (Figure 1), located more than 16,000 feet above sea level in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, came online on April 1. The initial generation capacity of 550 MW is expected to provide 13.2 GWh of electricity daily. Gu Faming, deputy head of the mechanical and electrical center of Maerdang Station, said the plant could produce about 15 TWh of electricity annually when fully operational.
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1. China Energy said the Maerdang hydroelectric power plant, located more than 16,000 feet above sea level, is the company’s first integrated clean energy facility and includes solar power and energy storage. Courtesy: China Energy |
The Maerdang power plant, which will have a generating capacity of 2,200 MW upon completion, is located on the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It is the highest power plant in this basin, which also includes other large hydropower projects including the 1,280 MW Longyangxia Power Plant, which has been operating since 1992 with four 320 MW units. Another large project in the region is Yellow River Yangqu, which has been under construction since 2021 and the first unit is expected to be operational in July this year. The 1,200 MW Yangqu Power Plant is expected to be fully operational in 2025. It will have three 400 MW Francis turbines. Located upstream of Longyangxia, Yangqu is one of three new cascade hydroelectric power plants planned in the area. The other projects are the Ciha and Bando hydroelectric power plants. China Energy said Maerdang will be the company’s first integrated clean energy facility, encompassing hydropower, solar power and energy storage. The company said the project includes a 750 kV ultra-high voltage substation, the highest of its kind in China, which was commissioned in September 2023 to supply the hydroelectric power plant. Li Jingchang, technical director at PowerChina Northwest Engineering Corp., designed the Maerdang station. Jingchang said the plant marks a milestone among China’s hydropower projects as the first unit came online about 36 months after construction began. China Energy has focused on building renewable energy projects faster in recent years. The company said it installed a record 320 GW of power generation capacity in 2023, with renewables accounting for more than 35% of that. According to the International Energy Agency, China has an installed wind and solar power generation capacity of 759 GW by 2022, with the goal of having 3.9 TW of renewable energy online by 2030. China Energy said the new substation has increased the voltage quality of the power transmission grid in Qinghai Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture from 330 kV to 750 kV. The company said the facility is considered a “smart substation” and is equipped with an unmanned aircraft defense system that China Energy said is capable of detecting potential threats from aircraft such as drones. The system has a defense mode that could intercept unidentified drones or other aircraft. China is the world’s largest producer of hydroelectric power. The country has many of the largest operating hydroelectric power plants, including the 22,500 MW Three Gorges Power Plant on the Yangtze River, the largest power plant in the world. —Darrell Proctor is senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).