First phase of world's largest hydro-solar power station begins

The world's largest integrated hydro-solar power station, located in Southwest China's Sichuan province, started its first phase of construction on Friday, according to its operator Yalong River Hydropower Development Co Ltd.

The Kela photovoltaic power station is the first phase of the world's largest hydro-solar complementary power station, the Yalong River Lianghekou hydro-solar integrated power plant that is located on the Yalong River in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Garze, Sichuan province.

With a total investment of more than 5.3 billion yuan ($790 million) and an installed capacity of one million kilowatts, the Kela photovoltaic power station is expected to be put into operation by 2023 with an average annual power generation capacity of 2 billion kilowatt-hours, said Yalong River Hydropower Development Co Ltd, a subsidiary of State Development& Investment Corp Ltd.

The power station is built at an altitude of around 4,000 meters to 4,600 meters and is among the highest one of its kind in China.

Large-scale photovoltaic power generation usually happens during the middle of the day whereas its generation capacity drops to zero at night, which will affect the steady operation of a grid network. However, the hydropower station can help suppress the volatility and unpredictability of photovoltaic power generation, providing an innovative model of new energy generation and consumption.

The Lianghekou hydropower plant, with a total installed capacity of 3 million kW, is the largest reservoir hydropower station in Sichuan province with a total storage capacity of 10.8 billion cubic meters. Regulation storage capacity is around 6.6 billion cubic meters and can play a key role in regulation and adjusting.

Additionally, solar power plays a complementary role for the hydropower station as hydropower sees a much better generation capacity during the high flow period in the summer but much less during the drought period in the winter.

According to Li Sheng, deputy head of the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, the complementary development model will further boost the consumption of new energy in the country.

"By complementing the two clean energy power generation characteristics, we can also lift the utilization of power transmission and increase power generation benefits," he said.

The Yalong River basin is one of China's clean energy bases. The operation of the Lianghekou hydropower plant will help ease imbalanced power generation in Sichuan and promote high-quality development of the Yangtze Economic Belt and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.