World’s Highest Rockfill Dam Comes Online as Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Unit Connects to Grid
According to CCTV News, China Energy Investment Corporation confirmed on 26 June that the first generating unit at Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station on the Dadu River has successfully connected to the national power grid, adding substantial capacity to the clean energy supply network across southwest China and advancing national carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets.
This flagship national energy project straddles Barkam City and Jinchuan County within Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, acting as the core regulating reservoir and pivotal upstream hydropower installation on the Dadu River waterway. The facility prioritises power generation while delivering flood defence functions, with a total installed capacity of 2 gigawatts and an average annual power output of 7.7 billion kilowatt-hours. Its central gravel-earth core rockfill dam stands at a record height of 315 metres, the tallest structure of its kind globally, with total embankment fill volume exceeding 46 million cubic metres. The project has completed its second phase of reservoir impoundment, meeting all operational criteria for power generation; the newly commissioned unit maintains steady, secure and controllable operating parameters as it feeds power into regional grids.
The reservoir features multi-year flow regulation capacity, holding a total storage volume of 2.9 billion cubic metres. Once operating at full capacity, it will unlock an extra 6.6 billion kilowatt-hours of annual power output across all downstream cascade hydropower plants. The facility enhances peak-shaving and frequency-modulation flexibility for Sichuan’s power grid, reshaping the mix of generating assets within the regional energy system. Flood protection benchmarks along the entire Dadu River basin receive a marked upgrade, and the infrastructure forms a vital flood control barrier along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Completion and commissioning of Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station expands China Energy Investment Corporation’s operational portfolio of hydroelectric and new energy assets on the Dadu River to nearly 15 gigawatts. The combined installations deliver more than 60 billion kilowatt-hours of zero-carbon electricity every year, cutting coal consumption by roughly 17 million tonnes and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 46 million tonnes annually. Consistent delivery of renewable power underpins sustained economic expansion across the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration alongside local ecological conservation initiatives.
The Dadu River ranks among China’s key hydropower resource bases, with abundant exploitable water energy distributed across its mountainous watershed. Completion of this landmark high-dam scheme accumulates practical engineering expertise for constructing ultra-high rockfill barriers above the 300-metre threshold, laying technical groundwork for future large-scale hydropower developments in alpine canyon terrain across western China.
