The first unit of the Maerdang Hydropower Plant, located upstream of the Yellow River, began operations on April 1, according to the operator, China Energy.
Maerdang Hydropower Plant upstream of the Yellow River. (Video: CCTV).
Maerdang is the highest hydropower plant in the country, with the largest installed capacity in the Yellow River basin, according to CGTN. Located at an altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level in Qinghai Province, northwest China, the first unit of the Maerdang Hydropower Plant has an installed capacity of 550,000 kilowatts (kW). It is expected that this unit will produce 13.2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity daily, meeting the daily power needs of 1.1 million households, as stated by China Energy.
Once fully operational, the plant with a total installed capacity of 2.32 million kW can generate an average of over 7.3 billion kWh of electricity annually, reducing the consumption of 2.56 million tons of standard coal and 8.16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
This project is the first integrated clean energy facility of China Energy, encompassing hydropower, solar power, and energy storage. The project aims to better utilize the abundant clean energy in western China to benefit the eastern region, which faces electricity shortages. Additionally, a super high-voltage substation, one of the highest in China, became operational last September as part of the Maerdang Hydropower Plant in Qinghai.
Once fully operational, the plant with a total installed capacity of 2.32 million kW.
The new substation increases the voltage of the power transmission network in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, from 330 kV to 750 kV. It is the first smart substation equipped with a drone system in the province, capable of detecting invading drone signals and activating a protection mode to intercept unidentified drones. The facility can transmit approximately 15 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, promoting the use of water resources and electricity development upstream of the Yellow River, according to Gu Faming, deputy director of the machinery and electrical center at the Maerdang Hydropower Plant.
