Unit 5 marks the first time China has installed a double-row turbine arrangement, it noted. Unit 5’s generator also “adopts a new domestically produced evaporative cooling scheme, which will further improve the power station’s peak regulation and frequency modulation capabilities,” it added. The technology was first tested on Unit 4.
The Lijiaxia hydropower station is the third level of a large hydropower station upstream of the Yellow River. Other projects on the cascade include the Longyangxia reservoir and the 4.2-GW Laxiwa hydropower station (the largest on the cascade). According to the International Hydropower Association (IHA), China added more than 15 GW to its conventional hydropower capacity and 8.7 GW of pumped storage hydro in 2022. Last year, the country brought online behemoth installations, such as the 16 GW Baihetan hydropower station—now the second largest hydropower project in the world—in December 2022.
Last year, China’s State Grid Corp. also announced the operation of the 3.6 GW Fengning Pumped Storage, one of the world’s biggest pumped storage projects. The project was developed in two 1.8-GW phases by State Grid subsidiary State Grid Xinyuan Co. “Fengning is reportedly the first hydroelectric facility in China to integrate variable-speed technology for efficient power generation,” IHA noted. “Not only is it the world’s biggest pumped storage project, but it also has 190 caverns, making it one of the largest underground factories in the world. It is also one of the world’s first pumped storage power stations connected to the flexible DC grid, due to a connection made to the Zhangbeirou DC converter station.”
