Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2021 shows Baihetan hydropower station in southwest China. Baihetan hydropower station, the world's second largest in terms of total installed capacity, was officially put into use in southwest China, with two generating units in operation on June 28. Photo: Xinhua

The world's second largest hydropower station on Jinsha River, unit 4 of the Baihetan Hydropower Station, connected to the grid on Friday morning, marking that the mainstream of the Yangtze River has become the world's largest clean energy corridor.

It is the sixth million-kilowatt unit of the Baihetan Hydropower Station located on the Jinsha River at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan Province in Southwest China that has been put into operation for power generation, and it is also the 100th hydro-generator unit built and put into operation by the Three Gorges Group on the mainstream of the Yangtze River.

The news comes after the first batch of units was put into operation for power generation at Baihetan Hydropower Station, which is invested, developed and managed by the Three Gorges Group, on June 28. 

Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2021 shows Baihetan hydropower station in southwest China. Baihetan hydropower station, the world's second largest in terms of total installed capacity, was officially put into use in southwest China, with two generating units in operation on June 28. Photo: Xinhua

The million-kilowatt unit currently has the world's largest single-unit capacity for hydropower stations, with extremely high requirements for design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning accuracy. It is known as "Mount Qomolangma" or Mount Everest in Western terms of the world's hydropower industry.

Baihetan Hydropower Station, the world's largest hydropower station under construction and the second largest in terms of installed capacity, is a major project for the country to implement the strategy of power transmission from western China to the east.

The station, as a new national name card of China's hydropower after the Three Gorges Project, is also of great significance for the country to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

The power station installed a total of 16 nationally produced hydro-turbine generators with a single unit capacity of 1 million kilowatts. All units are expected to be put into operation by July 2022.

By then, the station is expected to produce an average annual power generation of 62.4 billion kWh, saving 19.68 million tons of standard coal each year, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 51.6 million tons.