The Zhouning pumped-storage power project under construction in the Fujian province of China will comprise four generating units for a total capacity of 1.2GW.
China Huadian Fuxin, a subsidiary of Huadian Corporation, is developing the hydroelectric facility with an estimated investment of approximately £783m ($964m).
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The pre-feasibility study for the project passed the acceptance review by China’s General Institute of Hydropower and Water Conservancy Planning and Design in April 2014.
While the preliminary works on the project commenced in December 2015, the main construction works were officially started in December 2016.
The first pump-turbine unit of the project is expected to come online by June 2021, while the entire facility is planned for completion in July 2022.
At full capacity, the Zhouning pumped-storage power station is expected to generate up to 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year while offsetting 208,000t of coal consumption, 420,000t of CO2 emissions, and 2,800t of SO2 emissions annually.
Location and site details
The Zhouning pumped-storage power station is located near the Qibu town in Zhouning County, approximately 50km away from Ningde city, in the Fujian province of China.
The project site lies approximately 360m upstream of the Longxi II power plant, at the junction of the Qibu and Muyang rivers. It is also situated at the intersection of the Fujian power grid and the East China regional power grid.
Zhouning pumped-storage facility make-up
The Zhouning pumped-storage hydroelectric facility will comprise upper and lower reservoirs connected through a water delivery system, an underground powerhouse, and a surface switch station.
The underground powerhouse will be equipped with four vertical-shaft, single-stage, Francis reversible pump-turbine units of 300MW capacity each.
The project also involves the construction of auxiliary powerhouse tunnels, main transformer tunnels, tailgate tunnels, access traffic tunnels, tailgate transport tunnels, ventilation and safety tunnels, busbar tunnels, traffic cable tunnels, 500kV cable outlet tunnels, 500kV cable outlet shafts, drainage systems, a 1.2km-long water delivery system, four diversion inclined wells, pipe racks, and a gas-insulated switchyard (GIS).
Reservoir and dam details
The upper reservoir, located in the Kengweigou ditch, consists of a 33.5m-high roller-compacted auxiliary dam with a dam crest width of 7m. It is divided into 16 dam sections without spillways.
The roller-compacted concrete gravity dam of the lower reservoir on the Qibu River is 108m-tall and has a crest length of 225m and a crest elevation of 306m. The lower reservoir comprises four tunnels, including a bypass tunnel, a diversion tunnel, a lower foundation tunnel, and an upper dam tunnel.
Infrastructure facilities to support construction
The supporting facilities for the construction of the Zhouning pumped-storage power station include a steel bar processing plant, a formwork processing plant, a mechanical repair plant, a 32t construction bridge crane, two 250t bridge cranes, a warehouse, a hydraulic jack-steel strand, and a 12t winch.
Power evacuation
The electricity generated by the Zhouning pumped-storage power station will be evacuated through a 500kV power transmission line.
Contractors involved
Harbin Electric was contracted for the supply of four pump-turbine units for the hydroelectric facility.
The 16th Bureau of Hydropower won the contract for the civil construction and electromechanical installation works of the underground powerhouse in April 2019. It was also contracted for the lower reservoir construction works in March 2017.
The 12th Bureau of Hydropower was contracted for the construction works related to the water delivery system as well as the underground powerhouse in December 2016. It was also contracted for the early-stage traffic tunnel construction works in December 2015.
