China's Sichuan breaks 100 mln-kw mark in hydropower installed capacity

With the final generating unit of the Yinjiang Hydropower Station in southwest China's Sichuan Province connected to the power grid Friday morning, the province's total installed hydropower capacity surpassed a record-breaking 100 million kilowatts, accounting for about one-fourth of the country's total.

As a key hub in China's west-to-east power transmission program, Sichuan supplies about one-third of its generated electricity annually to regions outside the province.

Since 1998, when outbound transmission began, Sichuan has delivered over 1.9 trillion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity to central and eastern China, among other regions -- enough to cover the total electricity consumption of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces combined for a year, according to State Grid Sichuan Electric Power Company.

The Yinjiang Hydropower Station is located in Sichuan's Panzhihua City, on the Jinsha River, with a total installed capacity of 390,000 kilowatts. Once fully operational, the station will be capable of delivering over 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy annually, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 million tonnes, noted Yan Ruiping, chief engineer of the station's operator.

Known as the "province of a thousand rivers," Sichuan is rich in hydropower resources.