World’s Largest Clean Energy Corridor Achieves Strong Start in Q1

In the first quarter of this year, the world’s largest clean energy corridor operated smoothly, building a solid barrier for ensuring the Yangtze River’s water supply security, navigation safety, energy security and ecological security, and achieving a strong start for this major national project in the first quarter. 

People’s Network reports that the 1,800-kilometer-long clean energy corridor, with a total installed capacity of 71.695 million kilowatts, consists of six large hydropower stations — Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges and Gezhouba — built and operated by China Three Gorges Corporation along the main stream of the Yangtze River. It can provide about 300 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, equivalent to saving about 90.45 million tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 248 million tonnes. 

Scientific water replenishment dispatching has laid a foundation for water security. Combining incoming water conditions, power load demands and downstream water needs, dynamic and optimized dispatching has been carried out. By the end of the first quarter, the cascade reservoirs had supplied more than 20.3 billion cubic meters of water to the lower reaches during the current dry season, equivalent to the water volume of about 163 East Lakes in Wuhan. 

Navigation has operated safely and efficiently. While ensuring the production and living water needs of urban and rural residents along the river, the corridor has improved the navigation water depth conditions in the lower reaches, boosting the transportation efficiency of the “Golden Waterway”. In the first quarter, the Three Gorges Ship Lock operated safely for 2,259 lockages, with a cargo throughput of 35.47 million tonnes. 

The Three Gorges Ship Lift has given full play to its role as a fast dam-crossing channel, operating safely for 869 cabin times, transporting more than 100,000 passengers, 875 ships and 430,000 tonnes of cargo. “The efficient operation of the Three Gorges Ship Lock and Ship Lift has greatly shortened the navigation time for ships, reducing transportation costs and promoting the economic development along the Yangtze River,” said Chen Ming, an engineer from China Three Gorges Corporation’s Navigation Management Department. 

China Energy News notes that power supply guarantee has been solid and effective. The maintenance plan of cascade power stations has been scientifically coordinated, and the operation mode of power stations has been dynamically optimized to improve the peak power generation capacity of units. In the first quarter, the world’s largest clean energy corridor generated more than 61.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, a year-on-year increase of 7.19%. 

Ecological tests have been carried out in an orderly manner. Closely monitoring changes in power grid load demand and seizing the test window period, ecological dispatching tests have been carried out in a timely manner. The Wudongde and Baihetan hydropower stations have carried out three ecological dispatching tests targeting fish that produce sticky and sinking eggs. By adjusting the outflow discharge and water temperature, favorable hydraulic conditions have been created for the natural reproduction of Yangtze River fish. 

The smooth operation of the clean energy corridor in the first quarter not only demonstrates the strong support capacity of China’s major hydropower projects but also makes important contributions to promoting green and low-carbon development and ensuring national energy security. It has become a vivid practice of China’s commitment to ecological protection and high-quality development.