On June 28, 2023, the construction of Caiziba Pumped-storage hydroelectricity in Fengjie, Chongqing started. Three Gorges Group actively promotes the realization of the dual carbon goals and helps Fengjie County consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively link with rural revitalization to add new measures.

Project Overview

Caiziba Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is located in Xinglong Town and Fengping Township, Fengjie County, Chongqing. It is a key implementation project of the 14th Five Year Plan of the National Medium and Long Term Development Plan for Pumped Storage (2021-2035). It is mainly composed of upper reservoir, lower reservoir, water conveyance system, underground powerhouse caverns, ground switch stations and other buildings. It is planned to install four 300000 kilowatt vertical shaft single-stage mixed flow pump hydro generators with a total installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts. The power station is expected to have its first unit put into operation and generate electricity by 2029, and all units will be put into operation and generate electricity by 2030.

Caiziba Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is the first large-scale pumped storage project in complex karst areas in China, and also the first pumped storage project independently surveyed and designed by Three Gorges Corporation in the whole process. The project team overcame the difficulties of reservoir leakage analysis and water transmission and power generation system design under complex karst geological conditions, completed the preliminary work of the project with high quality and speed, and obtained approval from the Chongqing Development and Reform Commission in November 2022, laying the foundation for the project to start construction and put into operation as scheduled for power generation. The construction of this power station will effectively improve the survey, design, and construction level of pumping and storage projects under complex geological conditions in China.

It is reported that after the completion of the power station, it will mainly undertake tasks such as peak shaving, valley filling, energy storage, frequency regulation, phase modulation, and emergency backup for the Chongqing power grid. It is expected to provide 1.14 billion kilowatt hours of peak electricity to the Chongqing power grid every year, which is of great significance for improving the power safety guarantee and new energy consumption level of Chongqing, and assisting Chongqing in building a new type of power system with new energy as the main body.Editor/Ma Xue