The World's Largest Clean Energy Corridor in Numbers (A New Economic Direction)

Figure (1): Wudongde Hydropower Station. 　　Courtesy of the Three Gorges Corporation 　　Figure (2): Baihetan Hydropower Station. 　　Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Xinbo 　　Figure (3): Xiluodu Hydropower Station. 　　Photo by Zeng Sandong (Image China) 　　Figure (4): Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station. 　　Photo by Wu Xin (Image China) 　　Figure (5): Three Gorges Hydropower Station. 　　Photo by Zheng Kun (Image China) 　　Figure (6): Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project. 　　Photo by Wang Geng (Image China) 　　Source: Three Gorges Corporation

　　The mighty Yangtze River, gathering large rivers and passing through the Long Gorge, contains abundant resources such as hydroenergy, shipping, and fresh water.

　　Six large hydropower stations, Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges and Gezhouba, are arranged from top to bottom along the main stream of the Yangtze River, constituting the world's largest clean energy corridor: spanning more than 1,800 kilometers, with a water level drop of more than 900 meters, a total of 110 hydro-generator sets are running continuously, and the water of the Haohao River brings rolling green electricity.

　　Not long ago, the industrial Internet platform was deployed in 6 cascade hydropower stations, marking the basic completion of the world's largest clean energy corridor "Industrial Brain", and the operation efficiency, safety and reliability of hydropower stations have been greatly improved.

　　The cumulative power generation capacity of the six cascade hydropower stations exceeded 3.5 trillion kWh, which is equivalent to saving more than 1 billion tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.8 billion tons. At the same time, the cascade reservoir cooperates with each other, and the benefits of smooth shipping, water resources security, and ecological protection are comprehensively released.

　　71,695,000 kilowatts of total installed capacity

　　"1 drop of water generates 6 times of electricity", and the joint debugging of six reservoirs makes the "green engine" stronger

　　The Baihetan Hydropower Station in the deep canyon has a concrete double-curved arch dam with a maximum dam height of 289 meters, which attracts water from the Pentium River. The water rushing down from a height of more than 200 meters pushes the runners of the hydro-generator set to rotate, and the unit can generate about 150 kilowatt-hours of electricity per revolution.

　　The 16 million-kilowatt hydro-generating units of the Baihetan Hydropower Station are in full operation. Wang Bin, deputy director of the operation department of the Yangtze River Power Baihetan Power Plant, said: "The operation personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, the sensors collect data in real time, and the system automatically warns if the operation indicators are abnormal. ”

　　"The generator set is like a spinning top that turns by water power, converting kinetic energy into electricity." Kang Yonglin, former deputy director of the Baihetan Engineering Construction Department of China Three Gorges Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Three Gorges Corporation"), said that at a speed of 111 revolutions per minute, the coin standing on it does not move at all, and the swing of each bearing is less than 0.1 mm during operation...... "The overall layout of the unit, electromagnetic design, manufacturing of major large components and other key technologies have successively achieved important innovative results, witnessing the leading position of China Hydropower in the fields of equipment manufacturing, design and installation. ”

　　In December 2022, all units of Baihetan Hydropower Station were put into operation for power generation. Looking back from Baihetan, this clean energy corridor has witnessed breakthroughs in hydropower technology on the mainland.

　　Gezhouba, which was completed in the 80s of the last century, has a maximum capacity of 170,000 kilowatts per turbine generator unit. As the world's largest water conservancy project, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station has overcome the design and manufacturing technology of 700,000 kilowatt units. Subsequently, the Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba and Wudongde hydropower stations started construction, and the single capacity of hydro-generator units exceeded 770,000, 800,000 and 850,000 kilowatts respectively.

　　Upgrading is not a simple addition, and the technical difficulty coefficient of each R&D has increased exponentially. The capacity of a single unit is moving towards the million kilowatt level, which is inseparable from the application of a series of new processes and new materials, and has realized the upgrading of the whole industrial chain such as hydraulic design, generator ventilation, and overall design of the unit. "The head impact of the million-kilowatt unit is greater, the speed is faster, and the pressure is higher, and the Three Gorges Corporation has led the large steel enterprises to develop an 800 megapascal high-strength volute steel plate, getting rid of the situation of long-term dependence on imports." Li Haijun, deputy director of the Three Gorges Corporation's Electromechanical Technology Center, gave an example.

　　The total installed capacity of the six cascade hydropower stations is 71.695 million kilowatts, which is equivalent to the installed capacity of the three Three Gorges hydropower stations.

　　"The water of the Yangtze River passes through six hydropower stations in turn, which is equivalent to one drop of water generating six times of electricity." Kang Yonglin made a detailed calculation: 1 cubic meter of water can produce 0.25 kilowatt-hours of green electricity through the Three Gorges Hydropower Station, and the multiplier effect of power generation can be achieved by the joint commissioning of six reservoirs, and the power generation capacity can reach 2 kilowatt-hours, and the efficiency is increased by eight times.

　　"The operation and dispatch of the giant power station group in the basin involves multiple links of 'water, machinery and electricity', with huge scale, changeable time and space, cross-regional and cross-network, and complex structure. Cascade hydropower stations bear both peak load and base load, which puts forward higher requirements for the safe and stable operation of hydropower in a long period. Tang Zhengyang, deputy director of the Yangtze River Electric Power Science and Technology Research Center, said. The industrial Internet platform deeply empowers all business scenarios such as intelligent operation and maintenance, intelligent maintenance, intelligent scheduling, and intelligent decision-making, comprehensively improves the level of intelligent equipment operation and maintenance, and helps the digital construction of hydropower stations.

　　768 km of waterway in the deep reservoir area

　　Unleash the "golden benefits of golden waterways" to help the Yangtze River maintain its leading freight volume

　　The Three Gorges Dam and the double-line five-level locks are located on the left bank. In 2023, the ship lock will operate safely more than 11,000 times, and more than 42,000 ships will pass through it - tens of thousands of times to open about 900 tons of herringbone doors, and 1,000 tons of giant ships to climb 113 meters of water level drop, how to operate safely and efficiently?

　　"The Three Gorges Locks are the world's largest, most continuous stages, highest head, and most complex operating conditions. Yang Hua, deputy director of the hub management department of the Three Gorges Corporation's basin hub operation management center, said that in order to ensure the safety and reliability of all kinds of construction equipment, the Three Gorges lock will regularly implement planned suspension and maintenance. On April 5, the 2024 planned shutdown and maintenance of the Three Gorges North Line Ship Lock was successfully completed, which is the longest construction period, the heaviest task, and the most difficult process connection and coordination since the planned shutdown and maintenance began in 2012. More than 800 people from 16 units participated in the project, and within 45 days, they mainly completed the upgrading of the industrial control system of the Three Gorges Lock, the overhaul of 12 herringbone doors and 12 reverse arc doors, and the replacement of 9 sets of oil cylinders, which further improved the safety and reliability of the operation of the lock.

　　When the boat crosses the Three Gorges, it can not only "climb the stairs", but also "take the elevator". On the right side of the lock, there is the Three Gorges ship lift. According to Yang Hua, the 10-meter-high and 3.5-meter-deep carrier compartment can accommodate a 3,000-ton ship, and it only takes 10 minutes to raise it to a height of nearly 40 floors. From January to April this year, the cargo volume of the Three Gorges Ship Lock exceeded 41.4 million tons, the ship lift operated safely for 1,685 carriages, and the cargo volume of the ship passed through exceeded 1.96 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 127.73%.

　　The Xiangjiaba ship lift is the second giant ship lift built in mainland China after the Three Gorges ship lift, and the annual cargo capacity in 2023 will increase by 15.51% compared with the previous year; Over the past 40 years since the opening of the Gezhouba lock, the average number of locks operating per day has increased from 8 to 49. According to the relevant person in charge of the Three Gorges River Basin Hub Operation and Management Center, the Three Gorges, Xiangjiaba and Gezhouba water conservancy hubs have promoted the Yangtze River shipping and economic development along the Yangtze River, and helped the Yangtze River continue to rank first in the world's inland river freight volume.

　　Six cascade hydropower stations have formed a 768-kilometer deep reservoir area, and the navigation conditions of the Yangtze River have been steadily improved.

　　Sections of rapids have been turned into water pathways. After the completion of the Three Gorges Project, the water depth of the Chongqing-Yichang waterway has been increased from 2.9 meters to 3.5 meters to 4.5 meters, the tonnage of ships has been increased from 1,000 tons to 5,000 tons, and 109 beach hazards, 34 one-way control river sections, and 12 sections requiring winch beach passage between the dam site and Chongqing have been eliminated.

　　Ports from small to large to strong. On the Yangtze River waterway in Chongqing, a number of deep-water wharves of more than 5,000 tons have been formed. The ports in the Three Gorges reservoir area, such as Yichang in Hubei Province, Fuling in Chongqing and Wanzhou, are booming. The advantages of low energy consumption, large transportation capacity and low cost of water transportation on the Yangtze River have been fully utilized, further releasing the "golden benefits of the golden waterway".

　　The total storage capacity is 91.9 billion cubic meters

　　A strategic freshwater resource reservoir will be formed to provide support for water supply, water replenishment, and ecological dispatch

　　The Yangtze River basin is a strategic water source for the allocation of water resources in the mainland, with an average annual water resource of 995.9 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 36% of the country's total. Among them, this clean energy corridor forms a cascade reservoir group with a total storage capacity of 91.9 billion cubic meters and a strategic freshwater resource reservoir.

　　The effect of water supply and replenishment is remarkable. Li Peng, deputy chief engineer of the Three Gorges Ladder Adjustment of Yangtze River Electric Power, said: "We have reasonably coordinated the storage plan and energy supply requirements, which has provided a guarantee for the comprehensive benefits of water supply, power generation, shipping, and ecology. ”

　　Ecological scheduling continues to be carried out. Fish resources are an important indicator to measure the health of rivers, and the orderly increase of the discharge volume of the reservoir can create conditions for the natural reproduction of fish by creating a process of slow rise of the water level in the river section. 2023 is the second year that Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, and Three Gorges Reservoirs are all included in the scope of ecological dispatching, and relevant units have successively coordinated and organized 12 ecological dispatch experiments in three categories, including the layered water temperature regulation of Dieliangmen, the "baseload power generation" to promote the reproduction of sticky sinky eggs, and the breeding of drifting eggs, and the world's largest clean energy corridor has become an ecological protection corridor.

　　The scope of ecological dispatch is constantly expanding. According to the relevant person in charge of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources, the current dispatch objects have expanded from promoting fish reproduction to layered water intake water temperature regulation, preventing and controlling water blooms, reducing sediment and siltation in the reservoir area, and inhibiting the excessive reproduction of submerged plants, and the dispatch reservoirs have been expanded from the Three Gorges Reservoir to cascade reservoirs in the Jinsha River, Yalong River, Hanjiang River and other river basins, so as to vigorously promote the protection and restoration of water ecology in the Yangtze River basin.

　　The relevant person in charge of the Three Gorges Corporation said that the comprehensive benefits of the world's largest clean energy corridor will provide strong support for flood control safety, shipping safety, energy security and ecological security in the Yangtze River basin at a higher level, in a wider field and in a larger scope, and will continue to contribute to the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

　　Typography: Wang Zheping

Source: People's Daily