The world's largest installed capacity and the world's leading construction technology
China Hydropower Bright Business Card
Since July, several new water conservancy projects in my country have been under construction, including the world's largest hydro-solar hybrid power station, Sichuan Yalongjiang Kela Photovoltaic Power Station, and the first pumped storage power station in Northeast China, Heilongjiang Shangzhi Pumped Storage Power Station. Wait.
After the completion of these projects, my country's hydropower plant family will add another new member.
China is a big hydropower country. Currently, there are more than 40,000 hydropower stations. For every 10 kWh of electricity in the country, about 2 kWh comes from the endlessly flowing rivers.
Since the last unit of the Three Gorges Project was put into operation in 2012, my country's hydropower industry has continued to develop in the past ten years, and hydropower construction has been amazing.
From 2012 to 2021, my country's hydropower installed capacity will increase from 249 million kilowatts to 391 million kilowatts, and hydropower generation will increase from 0.9 trillion kilowatt hours to 1.3 trillion kilowatt hours.
Since 2014, my country's hydropower installed capacity and power generation have consistently ranked first in the world.
The hydropower business covers more than 140 countries and regions around the world, accounting for more than 70% of the overseas hydropower construction market share.
From 700,000 kilowatts to 1,000,000 kilowatts
The continuous increase in the capacity of a single unit provides stable power transmission in the eastern region
Since the fall, high temperatures have prevailed all over the country. The recent highest temperature in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province has been around 35 degrees Celsius almost every day.
Under the high temperature, air conditioners and fans have become the rigid needs of every household, followed by a rise in electricity load.
Recently, the dispatching load of Changshu Power Grid reached a record high of 3.3893 million kilowatts.
Under the high electricity load, the operation of Changshu power grid is still stable. Behind this is the strong support of clean energy from the "West-to-East Power Transmission".
On July 1, the Baihetan-Jiangsu ±800kV UHVDC transmission project was officially put into operation. This project started from the Baihetan Hydropower Station in Sichuan Province and spanned 5 provinces and cities. Through this major artery, the electric transport of the Baihetan Hydropower Station It only takes 7 milliseconds to reach Changshu, Jiangsu.
For some time, the power load in the eastern region, including Jiangsu, was still very tight, and many cities even experienced power outages from time to time.
In stark contrast to the power gap in the east, there are abundant but useless hydropower resources in the west.
Faced with this situation, my country has creatively constructed the "West-to-East Electricity Transmission" project, which is like a link connecting the supply and demand sides together.
Hydropower stations are an important source of clean electricity in the "West-to-East Power Transmission" project.
As of the first half of this year, the cumulative power generation of only the six cascade hydropower stations along the main stream of the Yangtze River has exceeded 3 trillion kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to saving about 910 million tons of standard coal.
The size of the power generation capacity of a hydropower station is closely related to its "heart" - the generator set.
700,000 kilowatts, 770,000 kilowatts, 850,000 kilowatts, and 1,000,000 kilowatts. This set of data is the capacity of a single hydro-generator unit of the Three Gorges Hydropower Station, Xiluodu Hydropower Station, Wudongde Hydropower Station, and Baihetan Hydropower Station.
From 70 to 100, it is not only an increase in quantity, but also a symbolic leap from the introduction of technology to the complete localization of core technology.
Baihetan Hydropower Station is a giant hydropower station with the largest single-unit capacity in the world. It has 16 generating units with a single-unit capacity of 1 million kilowatts. From design to manufacturing and installation, the entire process has been localized.
Before the start of the Three Gorges Project, the largest capacity hydropower unit that could be designed and manufactured in my country was only 320,000 kilowatts. The 700,000 kilowatt units initially used in the Three Gorges Project were imported from foreign technology.
Since then, my country has successfully developed its own 700,000-kilowatt hydropower unit in seven years. After the construction of Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, and Wudongde hydropower stations, the single-unit capacity of the domestic hydropower unit has been successfully increased to 850,000 kilowatts.
In just a few years, the technological gap with foreign countries for more than 30 years has been narrowed.
When we arrived at Baihetan, we finally came to a "no man's land" - we started to challenge 1 million kilowatts.
Perhaps, it is precisely because of the "no man's land" that many technologies can only rely on themselves, which has spawned several domestic firsts and world firsts in Baihetan.
In the white underground workshop of Baihetan Hydropower Station, huge circles are arranged in an orderly manner, which is the core component of the generator set: the rotor.
Each turn of the runner can generate about 150 degrees of electricity, which is about the electricity consumption of a family for a month.
The rotor is the condensation of many innovative technologies.
For example, the material yoke steel used in it comes from the independent research and development of Taiyuan Iron and Steel.
At the time of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there was no domestic technology for manufacturing yoke steel, and it had to be imported from abroad at a high price.
However, the rotor of Baihetan Hydropower Station needs to be expanded, and foreign products do not meet the requirements, so they can only be developed by themselves.
Taiyuan Iron & Steel, who took over this task, initially had no in-depth understanding of the properties of this material. Starting from scratch, it took them five years to successfully develop a stronger and thinner yoke steel plate, a The rotor is superimposed by 20,000 layers of steel plates, but the thickness is only 4 meters.
In 2018, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the Three Gorges Project, he pointed out: "It is precisely because we faced difficulties and overcome difficulties in the past that we have achieved today's achievements. Not only has the Three Gorges been built, but also a group of talents has been cultivated, and we have mastered comprehensive autonomy. Innovative technology, we have now developed one 'Three Gorges' after another."
Wang Xiaojun, engineer of Dongfang Electric Group, the research unit of the generator set of Baihetan Hydropower Station, said that since the Three Gorges Project, China's hydropower has made great strides to catch up with foreign advanced standards. From parallel to lead", he has reached the highest level and has no opponents.
The relevant person in charge of Dongfang Electric Group said that the company participated in the research and development of the generating units of the Three Gorges, Xiluodu and Baihetan hydropower stations, and the production technology has achieved qualitative improvement.
"Foreign hydropower giants who competed with Dongfang Electric on the same stage will now invite us to solve technical problems in the past."
Taller, thinner and smarter "seamless dams"
Dam building technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, greatly improving the safety performance of hydropower stations
The Yangtze River is the largest clean energy corridor in the world with numerous hydropower stations.
Along the main stream of the Yangtze River all the way down, there are 6 large hydropower stations including Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges and Gezhouba.
If you look down from the air, you can see that 6 dams with different shapes stand above the river, and they are magnificent.
The dam is the landmark building of the hydropower station, and it is also an important project of the hydropower station to regulate and store the flood.
The construction technology and performance of dams are an important manifestation of the construction level of a country's hydropower stations.
From the Three Gorges Project to the Wudongde Project to the Baihetan Project, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the development of hydropower stations in my country in terms of dam height, dam type and dam building technology has made rapid progress. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence are increasingly applied in dam construction, giving dams stronger and more intelligent performance.
"No dam will not crack", this is a long-standing problem in the construction of hydropower stations in the world, but Chinese hydropower engineers have created a "seamless dam".
According to Sun Minglun, a professor-level senior engineer at the Baihetan Engineering and Construction Department of the Three Gorges Corporation, a large amount of concrete needs to be poured in the construction of the dam.
To avoid this problem, engineers developed a new material, low-heat cement concrete.
In 2013, Sun Minglun undertook the research task of applying low-heat cement concrete to the whole dam of Baihetan and Wudongde.
Although low-heat cement concrete has been applied locally as early as in the third phase of the Three Gorges Project, the full dam cannot be poured due to its unstable quality.
To this end, Sun Minglun and his colleagues conducted several rounds of performance tests and evaluation production, and finally realized the full dam application of low-heat cement concrete on the Baihetan and Wudongde dams built in 2017.
Sun Minglun proudly said that until the top of the dam was poured, no temperature crack was found.
In addition to new materials, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing have also been increasingly seen in the hydropower dams built in my country in recent years, many of which are first-time applications.
The Yalong River Lianghekou Hydropower Station Dam, which started construction in 2014, is the first 300-meter-level ultra-high earth-rock dam built with "intelligent technology throughout the construction process" in China.
As the one million kilowatt-class hydropower station with the highest altitude in my country, many construction sites of Lianghekou Hydropower Station are extremely dangerous.
To this end, the builder adopts intelligent unmanned construction equipment throughout the construction site, and technicians only need to operate remotely.
The Yellow River Yangqu Hydropower Station, which started construction at the end of last year, applied the concept of 3D printing technology to the construction of the dam body, effectively reducing human errors during construction.
For the construction of hydropower stations in my country, the application of more innovative technologies in dams not only enables dams to be built higher and thinner, but also greatly improves construction efficiency.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country has started construction and completed and put into operation the first world-class giant hydropower project of 10 million kilowatts - Wudongde Hydropower Station. The thinnest 300-meter-level extra-high arch dam in Shanghai; the Baihetan Hydropower Station, which was built in the main project in 2017, has a maximum dam height of 289 meters, equivalent to a 100-story high-rise building, but its crest is only wide at its narrowest point. 14 meters.
The Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station currently under construction is expected to reach a height of 314 meters after completion, which is more than 100 meters higher than the Three Gorges Dam.
With the increasing maturity of my country's hydropower station construction technology, my country's hydropower station construction enterprises have also begun to enter the international market.
He Jiansheng, chief engineer of China Energy Construction Group, introduced that in January 2019, the Central Bank of Sudan issued a new version of the currency, of which three dams were printed on the back of 100 Sudanese pounds, two of which were built by Chinese companies and one was built by Chinese companies have increased.
The Myanmar Yaya Hydropower Station built by China was completed in just 40 months under harsh weather conditions of high temperature and rain, and the dam of the Tekeze Hydropower Station in Ethiopia was completed in just 38 months.
Conservation develops Conservation develops
A hydropower station dyes green more than the reservoir area
In Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, on the main stream of the Yellow River, the Yangqu Hydropower Station is in full swing.
As an important hub for clean energy regulation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Yangqu Hydropower Station will generate an average annual power generation of 4.732 billion kWh after it is completed and put into operation, which is equivalent to saving 1.467 million tons of standard coal consumption and 4.412 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
Adhering to the concept of protecting the ecology of the Yellow River Basin, the hydropower station has designed temporary and permanent ecological drainage tunnels and other facilities during construction, and installed wastewater treatment and reuse devices to recycle project tail water and domestic sewage.
Compared with traditional energy sources, hydropower undoubtedly has a stronger ecological background.
In recent years, with the proposal of the "dual carbon" goal and the advancement of ecological civilization construction, the "greenness" of the hydropower industry is not only reflected in the clean energy, but also in all aspects of construction and management.
In mid-July, the first hydropower station in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River, the first unit of the Suwalong Hydropower Station, was officially put into operation.
In addition to various advanced power generation facilities, Suwalong Hydropower Station is also equipped with a fish breeding station and a fish lifter covering an area of more than 60 mu.
In the fish breeding station, tens of thousands of fish fry grow healthily here, and the fish lifter installs an "elevator" for the fish in the Jinsha River to gather the fish that cannot swim through the dam downstream and pass through the tunnel. sent back upstream.
In recent years, the breeding station has almost become the standard configuration of major hydropower stations.
Peng Cheng, Dean of the General Institute of Hydropower and Water Resources Planning and Design of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that adhering to the tenet of ecological priority and green development, the relationship between the coordinated protection and development of hydropower in my country, after years of practice and development, has formed a "prevention, mitigation, restoration" ecological environment protection measure system.
In terms of fish protection, through various fish protection measures and technologies such as ecological flow leakage, habitat protection, fish passing measures, proliferation and release, etc., typical cases of hydropower ecological environmental protection have been obtained in various hydropower bases and major river basins, especially in fish In the field of artificial reproduction technology research, it has made important contributions to the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.
In June 2020, the first units of the Jinsha River Wudongde Hydropower Station were put into operation. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions, emphasizing that ecological priority and green development should be adhered to, the development of Jinsha River hydropower resources should be scientifically and orderly promoted, and the Jinsha River Basin should be protected. Develop and protect during development to better benefit the people.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Wudongde Engineering and Construction Department of the Three Gorges Group, at the beginning of the development of the Wudongde Hydropower Station, a breeding and release station was built 4.6 kilometers away from the dam site to undertake the breeding of rare fish at the two hydropower stations in Wudongde and Baihetan. Release mission.
In order to meet the needs of fish spawning period, the hydropower station has built facilities such as ecological flow discharge, and used artificial flood peaks to carry out ecological dispatch to promote fish spawning.
The construction of Wudongde Hydropower Station has also driven local green development.
Standing on the dam of Wudongde Hydropower Station and looking far into the distance, the green water reflects the green mountains, and the blue sky accompanies the forest. ".
However, more than ten years ago, this place was still a desolate river valley with only loess, and there was no water, no electricity or access to the surrounding area.
The construction process of Wudongde Hydropower Station is also a greening process. Since its construction, the construction workers have planted grass and trees in the barren mountains and canyons, gradually forming a landscape of "mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes and grass".
On the mountainside on the south bank of the dam of Wudongde Hydropower Station, rows of brand-new courtyards are neatly arranged, with flowers in full bloom in front of and behind the houses, and the fragrance of fruits and vegetables.
This is the largest carrying area for resettlement of immigrants in the local reservoir area - Jinrui Community of Wudongde Town.
Villager Zhang Fuchao is a descendant of a boatman who ferryed the Red Army on the Jinsha River. Before the relocation, his family lived in a simple hollow brick house with unstable income.
After moving to Jinrui Community, a family of 5 lived in a brand-new Xiaoyang Building.
With the improvement of the local ecology, more and more people come to travel. With the help of the community, Zhang Fuchao opened an "Old Boatman's Home" B&B with an annual income of more than 40,000 yuan.
A hydropower station is not only the reservoir area that is dyed green.
Thousands of miles away in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in the transmission lines of China Southern Power Grid, clean electricity from Wudongde Hydropower Station is continuously bringing green new kinetic energy to this prosperous area.
Wang Jintao, director of the Three Gorges Group Wudongde Power Plant, said that as of the first half of 2022, the cumulative power generation of Wudongde Hydropower Station exceeded 60 billion kWh, which is equivalent to saving 18.38 million tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50.28 million tons.
Our reporter Wang Yajing