Baihetan dam in final sprint before July commissioning of 1st power units

Baihetan hydropower plant, owned by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), announced that it hoisted the runner for one of its1-gigawatt hydraulic generator on the right bank and began dry commissioning on two power units on June 4, as the world's largest hydropower plant under construction is putting the first batch of power units into operation in July.

To date, four power units of Baihetan hydropower plant have finished dry commissioning and 10 runners have been hoisted.

Featuring 16 generators, Baihetan hydropower plant will top the global hydropower industry in terms of the installed capacity of a single unit. It poses a far greater challenge in development and manufacturing than other hydraulic generators under construction and in operation around the world.

Dry commissioning is a process of simulating the automatic operation of the power unit without filling the water, aiming to test all functions of the equipment and systems in preparation for the wet commissioning. The runner is known as the core of hydraulic generator and underpins the stable operation of the entire power unit.

Once operational, each power unit of Baihetan power plant is capable of generating about 1 million kilowatt-hours within one hour of operation on rated power. It is scheduled to commission the first batch of units by July 1, 2021 and all units by July 2022.