China completes world's largest hydropower unit

YICHANG - China has completed the installation of the world's largest hydropower-generating unit and launched a trial, according to the China Three Gorges Corporation.

Workers are testing the generator with a capacity of 800,000 kW at the Xiangjiaba hydropower station, which is located in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, a major headstream of the Yangtze, said a spokesman with the corporation Friday.

The trial on the unit, coded No 8, is set to be finished by the end of July, said the spokesman.

The construction of the Xiangjiaba dam, undertaken by the corporation, started in late 2006. The first batch of its units are expected to be put into use as early as October, he said.

The dam, designed with eight 800,000-kW generators, will have a total generating capacity only following the Three Gorges Dam and the Xiluodu hydropower station in the country.

Previous reports said China is working on hydropower units with a record-breaking capacity of more than 1 million kW, expected to be put into service by 2020.