Xiluodu Dam

Xiluodu Dam
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Location: Provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan , China Tributaries: Jinsha Jiang Drain: Jinsha Jiang Larger places nearby: Xiluodu
China
Coordinates	28 ° 15 '35 "  N , 103 ° 39' 2"  E Coordinates: 28 ° 15 '35 "  N , 103 ° 39' 2"  E
Data on the structure
Lock type:	Double arch dam made of concrete
Construction time:	2005-2013
Height above valley floor:	278 m
Height above foundation level :	285.5 m
Height of the structure crown:	610 m above sea level NN
Building volume:	16.72 million m³
Crown length:	698 m
Power plant output:	13.86 GW
Data on the reservoir
Altitude (at congestion destination )	600 m above sea level NN
Reservoir length	200 km
Reservoir width	on average about 700 m
Storage space	12,670,000,000 m³ = 12.67 km³
Design flood :	32,000 m³ / s
Elevation profile of dams on the Yangtze River

The Xiluodu Dam ( Chinese 溪洛渡 水电站 ) is located on the border between the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan in southwest China in the Jinsha Jiang (Chinese name for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River ) and is a double arch dam with an associated hydroelectric power station . It was created near Yongshan, a district of the prefecture-level city of Zhaotong, in the northeast of the Chinese province of Yunnan.

The dam has a height of 278 meters one of the highest dams of the earth. With regard to its nominal output of 13.86  GW , Xiluodu is the second largest hydropower plant in China and the third largest in the world after the Three Gorges Dam .

Project

prehistory

The Xiluodu dam is another hydropower plant which is supposed to provide China with the urgently needed electrical energy. Environmentally friendly energy sources such as water, wind and sun are strongly promoted in China.

Xiluodu should also help prevent the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam from being polluted by excessive sediment input. It is expected that the sediment load carried by the Yangtze can be reduced by a third. In addition, thanks to the dam, improvements in irrigation, flood protection and making the Yangtze river navigable below the dam should be possible.

Construction progress

The China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC) received the contract from the Chinese state for the planning and construction of the power plant.

Shortly before the planned start of construction, the project was stopped by the state environmental protection agency (SEPA) in January 2005. The SEPA did not agree to the environmental impact assessment submitted . The project site is located in a fish reserve and an earthquake-prone area. In order to obtain the building permit, maintenance measures are required.

The construction work on the double arch dam started in December 2005. According to the construction schedule , the river was cordoned off in November 2007. In 2009 it was decided to increase the dam wall to 285.5 meters. This required some design changes and led to considerable additional costs. In June 2013, the dam and the power plant were completed and the first turbine was ready for the test run.

After completion of the test phase, the Xiluodu power plant was officially commissioned on July 16, 2013, initially with a turbine. With the commissioning of the last of the 18 turbines in June 2014, the power plant delivered its nominal output of 13.86 gigawatts. With this output, Xiluodu is the second largest hydropower plant in China.

costs

The total cost of the Xiluodu Dam was approximately US $ 7.36 billion.

The cost of the transmission lines was $ 3.9 billion.

Technical specifications

• Construction: double arch dam made of concrete
• Construction time:
  • December 2005 to 2007 Slope protection and barriers in the river course in the area of ​​the dam were built so that the river could be stopped in November
  • In 2009 it was decided to raise the dam wall up to 285.5 m
  • By 2013, a power plant with a turbine house for nine turbines was built on the left and right sides of the mountain
  • On July 31, 2013, electricity production started with the first turbine generator from Voith
  • In June 2014 the complete system was completed. All 18 turbines in operation
• Length of the barrier structure: 698 m
• Height of the barrier structure above the foundation base: 285.5 m
• Height of the barrier structure above the valley floor: 278 m
• Height of the top of the wall: 610 m above sea level
• Normal congestion destination : 600 m above sea level
• Storage capacity for floods: 4.65 billion m³
• Total storage space: 12.67 billion m³
• Water surface: 140 km²
• Dam length (at the destination): 200 km
• Reservoir width (at destination): on average around 700 m
• Flood overflows: 7 at the top of the wall, 8 near the bottom
• HWE design flow rate: 48,926 m³ / s
• Nominal capacity: 13.86 GW
• Number of turbines with 767 megawatts: 15
• Number of turbines with 784 megawatts: 3
• Turbines used: Francis turbines
• Standard work capacity: 55.2 TWh in 2015
• Flooded area at normal water level: 3,000 ha
• Resettled people: around 180,000 thousand
• Build volume:
  • Concrete: 16.72 million m³ for the entire system, including 6.8 million m³ for the dam

Information partly taken from :

After completion

After construction was completed, the operation of the plant was transferred to CTG , which had been renamed China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) since 2009 . The Chinese government commissioned CTG to build the Baihetan and Wudongde dams . In 2013 the construction work was well advanced.

Energy generation

Impeller of a Francis turbine

The power plant has a total of 18 Francis turbines . 15 of them (Chinese make) generate an output of 767 MW each.

The Voith company supplied three generator-turbine units. These have an output of 784 MW each. The associated air-cooled generators each have a measured output of 855.6  MVA and were the most powerful that Voith has produced to date. The rotor of a generator weighs 1,350 t, has a diameter of 13.7 m and a height of 4 m.

The standard energy capacity of the power plant with a nominal output of 13.86 GW was 55.2 TWh of electrical energy in 2015  .

The hydropower plant can avoid the generation of electricity from around 41 million tons of coal and around 150 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Energy transfer

The machines are located in two underground caverns. From there, gas-insulated pipe conductors (GIL) lead through vertical shafts to the substations on the surface. The seven GILs installed by Siemens represent a record for GIL with 550 kV , 4500 A and a length of 620 m.

The energy is dissipated by means of two HVDC lines. The first leads to the province of Zhejiang in the net of the State Grid Corporation of China , has a length of 1,680 km and a transmission capacity of 8 GW. The second leads to the province of Guangdong to the network of China Southern Power Grid , has a length of 1,286 km and a transmission capacity of 6.4 GW.

Environmental impact

The eutrophication and algal blooms in the now slow-flowing Yangtze River is mainly to the reservoirs. The sediment transported in the river excretes dissolved phosphorus. This influences the formation of algae, which in turn damages the plants and animals in the water.

The sediment deposited behind the dam has to be flushed out annually. For this purpose, the 8 flood drains built in near the ground are opened for sediment flushing.

Animal and nature conservationists fear a deterioration in water quality due to the construction of the various hydroelectric power stations on the Yangtze. The critics are convinced that toxins from garbage dumps and factories will dissolve in the water. In addition, there is the methane gas that is produced by the rotting of the vegetation in the flooded areas. The flow velocity is reduced by the dams . As a result, these substances have a longer residence time, the concentration of toxins increases and the water quality deteriorates. This leads to the feared extinction of fish species that are already threatened today. In order to protect them, a reserve is required in a closed branch of the Yangtze River.

There is no state-regulated waste disposal system on the Yangtze . Of the more than 150 million people who live by the river, the rubbish is carelessly disposed of via the river. The increasing pollution then accumulates in front of the dams.

The Chinese state made funds available for 140 wastewater treatment plants to be built along the Yangtze. Some of the funds were misappropriated by the respective administrative authorities and the construction of the necessary facilities was suspended. Established systems were not put into operation because of the expected maintenance costs.

Forced relocation

Around 180,000 people had to be resettled when the dam was built . The flooding of the reservoir made cities, villages, valleys and gorges disappear in the water masses. 370 km of new roads were laid and 13 new cities were built. The standard of living of 60,000 resettled people improved significantly. Fish are raised in fish farms for reintroduction.

Security risks

Chinese geologists associate the increasingly frequent earthquakes with the reservoirs of the hydropower plants. Yang Yong, an independent geologist, has studied the Yangtze and the Yunnan rivers for 30 years . It connects the Ludian earthquake of August 3, 2014 in the Niulan river valley with the nearby Tianhuaban (7 km away) and Xiluodu (10 km away) dams. In the quake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale , over 600 people died and around 80,000 houses were destroyed.

Before the start of the test phase of the first generator (July 28 to 31, 2013), a gigantic landslide occurred in Yunnan Province. On July 27, 2013, at 5 p.m., the layers of earth dissolved at a width of 200 m and a height of 250 m and around 120,000 cubic meters of material fell into the flooded reservoir. This caused tsunami waves of up to 20 m in height on the opposite bank. At least 12 people were killed by the waves. Including five young people between the ages of 13 and 16.

See also

• List of hydropower plants in China
• List of dams in China
• List of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world
• List of the largest reservoirs on earth
• List of the largest dams on earth

Movies

• CTG: Xiluodu Great . YouTube World largest arch dam —— Xiluodu Dam 溪洛渡 水电站. Video without words. Retrieved January 10, 2019
• CCTV +: China's 2nd-largest Hydropower Station Wins Global Recognition . Video with subtitles in English. Retrieved January 16, 2019

Web links

• Official website: China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG). Retrieved January 12, 2019.
• Water Technology: Xiluodu Dam, Jinsha River, China . Accessed January 10, 2019
• Power Technology: Xiluodu Hydroelectric Power Plant . Accessed January 10, 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} China Three Gorges Corporation, Overview: CTG, A Global Developer . Retrieved January 15, 2019
2. ^ Water Technology: Xiluodu Dam, Jinsha River, China . Retrieved January 10, 2019
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Power Technology: Xiluodu Hydroelectric Power Plant . Accessed January 10, 2019
4. ↑ HydroWorld.com: 13.86 GW Xiluodu hydroelectric project prepares for El Nino effect . Report dated May 27, 2016. Accessed March 3, 2019
5. ^ Voith: Xiluodu, China . Retrieved January 10, 2019
6. ^ Siemens: Gas-insulated transmission lines . Retrieved January 10, 2019
7. ^ Siemens: Siemens completes the world's longest and highest-capacity GIL connection in China . Retrieved January 10, 2019
8. ↑ ScienceDirect: Effect of sediment on concentration of dissolved phosphorus in the Three Gorges Reservoir , March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2019
9. ↑ chinadialogue.net: Razing the last refuge , February 9, 2011. Accessed January 20, 2019
10. ↑ Petra Kolonko, Beijing: Yangtze River - As good as dead , Frankfurter Allgemeine (online), August 16, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2019
11. ↑ Berliner Zeitung.de: Danger for humans and nature: a carpet made of plastic pours into the sea. By Finn Mayer-Kuckuk, on October 13, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2019
12. ^ BOKU University for Soil Cultures, Vienna. Excursion to earthworks and foundations, China 2015; Authors: Aschinger, Diermayr, Gullner, Hochreiter, Hörander, Trettler: Drei Schluchten Sperre , partial report October 2015. Accessed on January 12, 2019
13. ↑ Academic.hep..com.cn: Technology improvements and management innovations in construction of Xiluodu hydropower station on Jinsha River . 2017 report. Retrieved March 3, 2019
14. ↑ China Daily.com: 20 injured in SW China earthquake , August 17, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2019
15. ↑ Eco-Business: Yunnan earthquake linked to dam-building, says Chinese geologist , dated August 22, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2019
16. ↑ Nature.com News: Chinese data hint at trigger for fatal quake . Report dated September 10, 2014. Accessed March 3, 2019
17. ↑ Environmental Justice Atlas: Xiluodu Dam and giant landslide, Yunnan and Sichuan, China , Description: (on the event of July 27, 2013). Retrieved March 3, 2019