Baihetan Hydroelectric Power Plant, The Second Largest in The World, Inaugurated in China With Total Capacity of 62.4 Billion Kilowatts

China Has Just Commissioned The Second Largest Hydroelectric Plant In The World. Now, The Itaipu Plant In Brazil Is In Third Place In The Global Ranking Generating 14 GW.

This Monday (20), China began the operation of the second largest hydroelectric plant in the world. Local authorities see the project as a milestone towards carbon neutrality goals, although there are warnings from environmentalists regarding environmental damage. The hydroelectric plant is located in the upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Southwest China and is named Baihetan.

Hydroelectric Plant Has 16 National Generating Units

The project went into operation after the 16 generators completed 72 hours of testing. According to Xinhua news agency, the plant has a total capacity of 62.4 billion kilowatts per year, featuring 16 national generating units, which is the highest unit capacity in the world.

The operation of the new plant is a significant boost for the energy structure, the construction of the Yangtze Economic Belt, and the coordinated development of the regional economy in China.

According to the president of China Three Gorges Corporation, Lei Mingshan, the hydroelectric plant represents a great innovation in the production of high-quality equipment in the country, as it is equipped with 16 national generating units, each with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, the highest unit capacity in the world.

The Baihetan plant marks the end of the largest renewable energy corridor in the world, where six mega hydroelectric plants on the Yangtze River work to transmit energy from water resources in the west to the electricity consumption regions in the east.

The six plants in the region are managed by China Three Gorges Corporation and are expected to generate 300 billion kWh of energy per year, reducing coal consumption by 90 million tons and carbon emissions by 248 million tons.

What Is The Largest Hydroelectric Plant In The World?

Four of the plants, Wudong De, Xiluodu, Baihetan, and Xiangjiaba, are located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River, while the other two, Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba, are in the central section of the Yangtze River.

These form a 1,800 km clean energy corridor that also plays an essential role in flood control, water resource utilization, navigation, and ecological security in the region. It is important to note that the largest hydroelectric plant in the world is the Three Gorges Dam, located on the Yangtze River in China.

The plant has a installed capacity of 22,500 MW and was developed to provide electricity to central and western China, in addition to promoting navigation on the river and controlling floods.

The dam was constructed between 1994 and 2012, being the largest in the world in terms of installed capacity, with 16 million kWh. The Itaipu Binacional, in Brazil, is the largest hydroelectric plant and was the third largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 14 thousand MW.

Micro Hydroelectric Plants Are Gaining Popularity Among Companies

Despite significant investments in giant hydroelectric plants, there are people still seeking smaller generation forms. With this in mind, two engineers developed a micro hydroelectric plant with the capacity to supply up to 4 households.

The project was developed in 2018 and since then, the creators have developed other ideas, creating 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 achieving a minimum viable product, which is the first step to entering the market. Thus, after reports, there was immense demand from customers.