China’s fourth largest Wudongde Hydropower Station on Jinsha River, the upper stretches of the Yangtze River, in the southwest province of Yunnan and Sichuan, After a 72-hour trial operation, saw its first section come online on June 29th 2020. It will have a total installed capacity of 10.2 million kilowatts, 45% of the Three Gorges Dam’s capacity, when full operations begin in July 2021. The project cost 120 billion yuan to build and should produce 38.91 billion kilowatt-hours on average per year. China Three Gorges Corporation owns the development rights of the Wudongde hydropower station and holds a 70% stake in the company formed to manage the station’s operations.
Wudongde power station will be incorporated into China Three Gorges Corporation listed company China Yangtze Power Co, which manages four hydropower stations in China, including the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity.
The clean energy will be transmitted to China Southern Power Grid to help develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other areas.
The station will also serve as an important part of the Yangtze River Basin flood control system, as its reserved flood storage capacity is 2.44 billion cubic meters, equivalent to more than 170 West Lakes.
Wudongde Hydropower Station is like an eggshell stationed at the Jinsha River's V-shaped valley. The double-curved arch dam has a maximum height of 270 meters, but its average thickness is only 40 meters, making it the world's thinnest 300-meter arch dam. Dam can block the river to form a reservoir that can store about 7.4 billion cubic meters of water.
