Baihetan Dam

Baihetan Dam
Baihetan Dam
	Location of Baihetan Dam in China
Official name	白鹤滩大坝
Coordinates	27°13′07″N 102°54′22″E / 27.21861°N 102.90611°ECoordinates: 27°13′07″N 102°54′22″E / 27.21861°N 102.90611°E
Construction began	2017
Opening date	July 2022;
Construction cost	CN¥220 billion
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	double-curvature arch dam
Impounds	Jinsha River
Height	277 metres (909 ft)
Width (crest)	13 metres (43 ft)
Width (base)	72 metres (236 ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity	17,924,000,000 m3 (14,531,223 acre⋅ft)
Power Station
Turbines	16 × 1,000 MW
Installed capacity	4 000 MW (operational); 12,000 MW (under construction)
Annual generation	60.24 TWh

The Baihetan Dam (simplified Chinese: 白鹤滩大坝; traditional Chinese: 白鶴灘大壩; pinyin: Báihètān Dàbà) is a large hydroelectric dam on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, in the southwest of China. The dam is a 277 m tall double-curvature arch dam with a crest elevation of 827 m, and a width of 72 m at the base and 13 m at the crest.^[3] It is considered the last large hydropower project in China to be completed since a series of projects starting with the Three Gorges Dam,^[4] the third largest dam in China and the fourth in the world, in terms of dam volume.

Power generation[]

The facility will generate power by utilizing 16 turbines, each with a generating capacity of 1.0 GW, taking the generating capacity to 16,000 MW.^[5] In terms of generating capacity, it will be the second largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, after the Three Gorges Dam.^[6]

Construction[]

Surveying of the dam site was done in 1992.^[7] The dam was originally scheduled to be constructed between 2009 and 2018.^[8] Actual construction started in 2017.^[9] The reservoir started filling in April 2021, with the dam to start partial electricity generation in July of the same year. By July 2022, the dam should be fully operational.^[10] Experts have noted the 4-year construction period as being exceptionally fast for a project of its type.^[11]

On June 28, 2021, the Baihetan Dam began generating electricity, when the project's first two turbines started operating.^[12] The third turbine followed in July and the fourth in November.^[13]