the fourth generating unit of china's massive baihetan hydropower station, located on the jinsha river in the upper section of the yangtze river in southwest china, started operation a couple of weeks ago, moving the country closer to its goal of reducing fossil fuel consumption.
baihetan is more than a power station – it's a milestone in many ways and adds the finishing touch to the world's largest clean energy corridor.
having an investment outlay of 220 billion yuan (about $34.07 billion), it would be able to meet the electricity demand of around 50 million people when it becomes fully operational next july.
"the western part of china is rich in hydropower resources, while the eastern part is more advanced in terms of industrial development," said he wei, secretary of the party committee of the construction department of baihetan hydropower station.
"we use an ultra-high voltage transmission system to transmit power from the western part of our country to the eastern part where clean energy sources are relatively scarce. the practice plays an big role in reducing carbon emissions in the industrially developed eastern regions," he said, noting that this system is also conducive to even distribution of clean energy sources across the country.
china aims to increase its non-fossil fuel energy consumption from 16 percent to 25 percent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. for the purpose, the country plans to develop other clean energy sources.
he said other possibilities are photovoltaic, solar and wind power, but they are scattered all over the country, and each of them is relatively small.
"with the complete energy transmission channel we have formed, they can now benefit from it," he added.
the journey to build this corridor on the yangtze river started decades ago when china constructed gezhouba dam – a mega hydropower station which divides the upper and middle reaches of the river.
there's also the iconic three gorges dam – the world's largest hydropower station. it generates over 88 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity for china every year.
when fully operational, baihetan will be able to generate more than 60 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, or around 70 percent of power compared with the three gorges dam.
