Image Courtesy: CGTN

China’s Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station, home to the world’s tallest completed dam, has reached a major operational milestone after three generating units were connected to the power grid, producing more than 500 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity.

The massive hydropower project is located on the upper reaches of the Dadu River in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Its dam has a maximum designed height of 315 meters, while the station has a total installed generating capacity of 2 million kilowatts. The first generating unit was officially connected to the grid in June, marking the beginning of operations at the long-awaited project.

Once all of its generating units are operational, the Shuangjiangkou station is expected to produce approximately 7.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. The facility is designed to strengthen the transmission of renewable electricity from southwest China to other parts of the country while supporting Beijing’s broader transition away from fossil fuels.

The project also serves an important role beyond electricity generation. Its reservoir has a total storage capacity of roughly 2.9 billion cubic meters, allowing the facility to regulate water flows and improve the operating capacity of downstream hydropower stations. The additional storage is also expected to strengthen flood control across the Dadu River basin.

Construction on the project followed its approval in 2015 and took more than a decade to complete. Following 11 years of construction, the station completed its second-stage reservoir impoundment and safely brought its first generating unit online.

Chinese authorities expect the completed project to deliver substantial environmental benefits by replacing electricity that would otherwise be generated using fossil fuels. The hydropower station is projected to save an estimated 17 million tonnes of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 46 million tonnes annually once it reaches full operation.

Shuangjiangkou will also form part of a broader clean energy network combining hydropower with wind and solar generation. Hydropower facilities can help balance the intermittency of renewable sources by providing flexible electricity generation when wind and solar output changes.

With additional generating units entering service, the massive project is expected to continue increasing its contribution to China’s electricity system. Its scale and reservoir capacity could make it a key component of the country’s expanding clean energy infrastructure for decades to come.