Photo: CCTV

A mega hydropower station built in Southwest China's Sichuan Province along the middle and lower reaches of Yalong River began operation on Wednesday, marking a landmark project of China's hydropower development in high-altitude cold areas and a milestone in the history of hydropower construction in the world.

The Global Times learned from the project designer - Chengdu Engineering Corporation under state-owned Power China -- that the construction area of the Lianghekou hydropower station, with an average altitude of 3,000 meters, is China's highest and the world's second highest altitude hydropower station. 

According to the designer, the project is consisted of 11 high slopes with a maximum of 684 meters, 50 meters higher than the Shanghai Tower, China's highest building. It has the world's deepest reservoir with the maximum water depth in front of the dam being 285 meters. It also has the world's highest power station intake tower, being 115 meters high. 

The flood discharge speed of the station is the world's second fastest and it can generate 6-kilowatt hour when intercepting one cubic meter of water. 

Construction of the station began in October 2014. The Yalong River originates from the southern foot of Bayankala Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and runs through Garze Prefecture, Liangshan Prefecture and Panzhihua city of Sichuan Province. The main stream has a total length of 1,571 kilometers and a natural drop of 3,830 meters, ranking third among the 13 hydropower bases planned nationwide.

The station could generate 11 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. After completion, it can reduce raw coal consumption by 13.3 million tons and carbon dioxide emission by 21.3 million tons per year, equivalent to building four coal mines with an annual output of 4 million tons.