Unit 13 of world's largest hydropower station begins power operation

Unit 13 of Baihetan Hydropower Station, the world's largest hydropower station under construction, successfully passed the 72-hour trial operation on Sunday and officially started power generation, China Media Group said.

The commissioning of Unit 13 marks that more than half of the power station on the right bank has been put into commercial operation, CMG said.

Baihetan Hydropower Station is located on the Jinshajiang river course at the junction of Ningnan county in Sichuan province and Qiaojia county in Yunnan province. With a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts, it is the world's largest hydropower station under construction, according to the CMG.

Upon completion of the Baihetan Hydropower Station, its annual average power generation will reach 62.443 billion kilowatt-hours, which can meet the daily electricity demand of about 75 million people, and is equivalent to saving about 19.68 million metric tons of standard coal as well as reducing 51.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to the CMG.

It will also help ease pressure of power supply for East and Central China areas, CMG said.