Two major hydropower stations on the Dadu River have officially commenced operations, marking the first large-scale hydropower projects to be commissioned in China during the initial period of the 15th Five-Year Plan.
On June 1st, it was announced that the first generating units of the Zhentouba II and Jinchuan Hydropower Stations were successfully connected to the grid in May. By May 31st, a total of nine units from these two stations have been successively integrated into the power grid, with five of them having completed a 72-hour trial run. This has added approximately 950 megawatts of new hydropower capacity to the grid, reinforcing the clean energy supply system in southwestern China.
The Dadu River basin is China's fifth-largest hydropower base, with a total installed capacity exceeding 27 gigawatts, serving as a crucial power source for the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone. The development rights for 17 cascade stations along the main stream are held by the relevant company, which has already put over 13 gigawatts of hydropower into operation. Since the beginning of this year, the company has accelerated the construction of key projects in the basin, with units at the Chuosijia and Shaping I stations coming online, signaling a period of intensive commissioning for hydropower projects.
May witnessed another peak in construction activity. The consecutive grid connection of the first units at Zhentouba II and Jinchuan, along with the concentrated commissioning of nine units, set new records for both the Dadu River basin and the parent company in terms of the scale and frequency of single-unit commissioning, helping the group's total installed capacity surpass 400 gigawatts.
The Zhentouba II Hydropower Station, which was the first to connect to the grid, is located in Jinkouhe District, Leshan City, on the lower reaches of the Dadu River. With a total capacity of 300 megawatts from six 50-megawatt bulb tubular units, it is a key energy project in Sichuan Province's 14th Five-Year Plan and the only "city-station integrated" clean energy project in China. During construction, innovative technologies and processes were applied, significantly shortening the construction timeline and allowing power generation to commence 12 months ahead of similar projects, setting multiple domestic construction records and providing valuable experience for green hydropower development.
The Jinchuan Hydropower Station is situated in Jinchuan County and Barkam City, Aba Prefecture, on the upper reaches of the Dadu River. With a total capacity of 860 megawatts, it is a key development project supported by the state for the economic and social development of Qinghai and other provinces, as well as a major construction project under Sichuan's 14th Five-Year energy development plan. The construction team overcame challenges related to building a dam on a riverbed with deep overburden layers, successfully constructing a 112-meter-high concrete-faced rockfill dam—the tallest of its kind in similar geological conditions in China. They also pioneered construction techniques for large underground cavern complexes under complex geological conditions and implemented Asia's longest "natural river channel + tunnel" ecological fish passage, achieving deep integration of engineering technology and ecological protection.
Currently, the Zhentouba II station has achieved the goal of commissioning its first unit and all six units within the same month. The Jinchuan station is making a final push to connect its remaining unit to the grid. The total hydropower capacity in the Dadu River basin has increased by nearly 1.2 gigawatts. Furthermore, river diversion at the middle-reach Laoyingyan II station has been completed to a high standard, and preparations are intensively underway for the commissioning of the first unit at the Shuangjiangkou station—home to the world's tallest dam—on the upper reaches. The Danba Hydropower Project is also poised to commence construction soon.
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