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China has just put into operation the second largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. Now, the Itaipu plant, in Brazil, is in third place in the world ranking, generating 14 GW.
This Monday (20), the China started the operation of second largest hydroelectric plant in the world. Local authorities see the development as a milestone towards carbon neutrality goals, although there are warnings from environmentalists about the environmental damage. The hydroelectric plant is located on the upper reaches of the river Yangtze in Southwest China and was named Baihetan.
Hydroelectric has 16 national generating units
The venture started operating after the 16 generators completed 72 hours of testing. According to the Xinhua news agency, the plant has a total capacity of 62,4 billion kilowatts per year, with 16 generating units of national production, which is the largest unit capacity in the world.
The operation of the new power plant is a major boost for the energy structure, the construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the coordinated development of the regional economy in China.
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According to the president of the China Three Gorges Corporation, Lei Mingshan, the hydroelectric plant means a great innovation in the production of high quality equipment in the country, considering that it is equipped with 16 national generating units, each with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts. , the largest unit capacity in the world.
The Baihetan plant marks the end of the longest corridor of renewable energy in the world, where six mega hydropower plants on the Yangtze River act to transmit energy from water resources in the west to electricity consumption regions in the east.
The six plants in the region are managed by the China Three Gorges Corporation and are expected to generate 300 billion kWh of energy per year, reducing coal consumption by 90 million tonnes and carbon emissions by 248 million tonnes.
What is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world?
Four of the plants, Wudong De, Xiluodu, Baihetan and Xiangjiaba, are located on the Jinsha River, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, while the other two, Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba, are on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
These form a 1.800 km clean energy corridor that also plays an essential role in flood control, water resource use, navigation and ecological security in the region. It is important to note that the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world is the Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River, in China.
The plant has an installed capacity of 22.500 MW and was developed with the aim of providing electricity to central and western China, in addition to promoting river navigation and controlling floods.
The dam was built between 1994 and 2012, being the largest in the world in terms of installed capacity, with 16 million kWh. A Itaipu Binational, in Brazil, is the largest hydroelectric power plant and was the third largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 14 MW.
Micro hydroelectric plants fall in the taste of companies
Despite the high investments in giant hydroelectric plants, there are people who are still looking for smaller forms of generation. With that in mind, two engineers developed a micro hydroelectric power plant with the capacity to supply up to 4 homes.
The project was developed in 2018 and since then, the creators have developed other ideas, generating new products to meet the demands of more customers.
According to the inventors, when the hydroelectric plant was built in 2018 it was still in the process of having the minimum viable product, which is the first step to enter the market. In this way, after reports, there was an immense demand from customers.
