The 1 million kW solar power plant and the 3 million kW hydropower plant will form a hybrid project in Sichuan.
China commenced the construction of the Kela Photovoltaic Power Plant on July 8, which is part of the world’s largest solar-hydropower hybrid project by installed capacity. With a total investment of over $790 million, the new facility is being built at an altitude of approximately 4,000 to 4,600 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest power plants of its kind in China.
Lianghekou Hydropower Plant on the Yalong River in Sichuan Province, southwest China. (Photo: CFP)
The Kela plant is located in the Yajiang County of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. This facility has an installed capacity of 1 million kW and will connect with the Lianghekou Hydropower Plant, which has a total installed capacity of 3 million kW. Together, these projects will create the largest solar-hydropower hybrid plant in the world.
Due to its reliance on sunlight, the electricity output of photovoltaic plants fluctuates with day and night as well as weather conditions. The integration with hydropower helps stabilize the variability in solar power, providing a high-quality, stable clean energy source for the grid.
The plant will cover an area of approximately 16 km2, equivalent to 80 National Stadiums “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing, and is expected to be operational next year. “The plant will generate 2 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, equivalent to over 600,000 tons of standard coal, helping to reduce more than 1.6 million tons of CO2 emissions,” said Qi Ningchun, chairman of the Yalong River Hydropower Development Company.
The largest operational solar-hydropower plant is the Longyangxia facility, which was certified by the Guinness World Records on June 26. Located in the northwest of Qinghai Province, China, this plant has a total capacity of 2.13 million kW, with 850,000 kW from solar energy and 1.28 million kW from hydropower.
