Lu Youmei, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation announced at a working conference at the end of January 2003 that the Corporation would set up a company for the development of Jinshajiang this year and speed up preparatory work for the building of Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations.

The total installation capacity of the Three Gorges project is 18.2 million kw, that for Xiluodu will be 12.6 million kw and for Xiangjiaba 6 million kw. Capacity of the latter two, when added together, is equivalent to another Three Gorges Project!

Xiluodu, the World Second Biggest Station in Scale

According to state plan and expert evaluation, the water energy can be exploited on the Jinshajiang River reaches 88.91 million kw, of which as high as 58 million kw is focused on the middle and lower reaches. While Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba are two step stations at the bottom of the lower reaches of the River, both located on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

Located at the Xiluodu Valley at the border of Yunnan's Yongshan County and Sichuan's Leibo County, the Xiluodu station is one among the state approved projects of comprehensive exploitation of the Yangtze River in 1990. With a designed total installation capacity of 12.6 million kw, it is only next to the Three Gorges in scale, and ranks the world second together with the Itaipu station, a cooperation with Brazil and Uruguay. After completion, the Xiluodu station could guarantee a generation of 3.38 million kw with a yearly electricity generation of 57.35 billion kwh.

With a total capacity of 18.6 million kw, the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations could provide a yearly electricity of 87.4 billion kwh to central and east China.

Great Comprehensive Benefits

The two stations will also help to solve the problem of sand deposit in the Three Gorges area. The middle reaches of Jinshajiang River is a main sand producer in the Yingtze River, while the normal storage level for Xiluodu is 600 meters, with the dead storage level as high as 540 meters. The sand blocking will not effect power generation and the sand volume entering the Three Gorges reservoir area will reduce by 34 percent over the previous natural state.

The function of flood prevention is also remarkable. The 273-meter high dam of Xiluodu will raise water level by 230 meters with the total storage reaching 12.67 billion cubic meters, so as to well carry out the task of flood prevention of the reservoir area of the Three Gorges.

Another "Three Gorges" on the Jinshajiang River

Four stations are planned to be built along the lower reaches of Jinshajiang (the Panzhihua-Yibin section), namely, Wudongde, Beihetan, Xiluodu and Xiangjiabai from top to bottom. The Wudongde station installs a capacity around 7.4 million kw with a yearly generation of 33.9 billion kwh. The Baihetan station a capacity of 12.5 million kw with a yearly generation around 55 billion kwh. The two stations live up to another "Three Gorges" in their scale.

The Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba stations will be completed before 2020 and preparatory work for Wudongde and Baihetan will be kicked off this year.

(People?s Daily February 18, 2003)