Laxiwa accomplishes annual 4 unit target

Unit 2 of Laxiwa Hydropower Station passed the 72-hour test run and has been synchronized for generation. With the generation of Unit 2, which is located on the Yellow River, the total installed power capacity of Qinghai Province has exceeded 10GW. So far, four 700MW units of Laxiwa Hydropower Station have begun generation, writing a resplendent chapter in the Chinese hydropower construction history.

Widely acknowledged as an extremely challenging large hydropower project both at home and abroad, Laxiwa Hydropower Station features the highest dam, largest installed capacity, largest amount of electricity and good economic performance in the Yellow River basin. The project began construction preparations in October 2001, carried out riverbed cutoff in January 2004, poured first concrete of the dam in April 2006, began water storage in March 2009, had the first two units synchronized for generation in May 2009 and the 3rd at the end of September, and completed the 72-hour test run of Unit 2 on 25 December. With those milestones, Laxiwa Hydropower Station project has created a series of new records of hydropower construction in China – 7.5 years from construction preparation to water storage, 3 years from first concrete pouring for the dam to generation of the first unit, 9 days for commissioning of the first unit and generation of 4×700MW units within one year.

The project has also applied multiple new technologies, new processes and new materials for the first time during construction, filling gaps and achieving leading project quality in China.

While breaking new record in the speed of hydropower project construction, Laxiwa Hydropower Station has also taken firm quality control. It has achieved 100 percent quality conformity rate, over 90 percent excellence rate in civil work, and 95 percent excellence rate in electromechanical installation. Units that have begun generation are operating safely and generating an accumulative amount of 3690GWh electricity by 26 December 2009.

The successful commissioning of four units of Laxiwa Hydropower Station within the year has laid a solid foundation for Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. to achieve the goal of having total hydropower installed capacity of over 10GW in Qinghai this 2010.