Beijing: General Electric Co won a contract to supply turbines that account for half the generation capacity of the 10.2-gigawatt Wudongde hydropower plant being built by China Three Gorges Corp.
The renewable unit of the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company will provide six 850-megawatt Francis turbine-generator sets and related equipment for the project, according to an emailed statement. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
The 100 billion yuan (Dh56.7 billion, $15.5 billion) project was approved by the Chinese government after 18 years of scientific research and preparation, state-owned China Three Gorges said on December 16. It will be China’s fourth largest hydroelectric plant among projects that are finished and being built.
The project will cut coal consumption by 12.2 million tons annually, according China Three Gorges. Hydropower is the second biggest source of the nation’s electricity following coal, and accounts for 22 per cent of China’s total, according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The plant is one of four projects by China Three Gorges on the lower reaches of the Jinsha River that will have a collective generation capacity of 46.46 gigawatts, once completed.
