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China's first million-kW hydro-power units expected by 2020

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-28 17:24

China's first domestically made large hydro-power generators with a capacity of more than 1 million kW will go into service before 2020, said Cheng Yongquan, deputy general engineer of the China Three Gorges Corporation.

Cheng told Xinhua Wednesday that the key technology research would be completed by the end of this year.

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The generators would be put into use at the Wudongde and Baihetan hydropower stations, on Jinsha River, which constitutes part of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, he said.

The total capacity of the two hydropower stations would be 20 million kW and they were expected to start operating before 2020, he said.

Cheng said research showed that installing a larger scale generator would bring better social and economic benefits.

The 1-million-kW hydro-power generating unit was the largest in the world, Cheng said. The largest existing unit in China was 700,000 kW in capacity.