Stay ring for Three Gorges 1 million kW turbine OK'd

The stay ring for the world's first 1 million kilowatt hydropower turbine unit developed and made by Harbin Electric Machinery Co Ltd passes the acceptance check of the China Three Gorges Corporation, Oct 17, 2017. [Photo by Liu Yang for China Daily]

On Tuesday, the stay ring for the world's first 1 million kilowatt hydropower turbine unit, developed and made by Harbin Electric Machinery Co Ltd passed the acceptance check of the China Three Gorges Corporation.

The turbine is 17.2 meters long, 14.5 meters wide and 4 meters tall, and weighs 500 tons.

It is the first major part made for the super turbine unit, which marks the company's success over the difficulties for making million kilowatt-level turbines and creates a new era in the world's hydropower turbine production.

Before that, the company could build a 0.8 million-kilowatt hydropower turbine, which was ranked at the highest level in the world.

The company will provide half of the turbines to Baihetan, the world's second largest hydropower station constructed by the China Three Gorges Corp, in Southwest China. It will have 16 turbines, each with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts.

Baihetan is on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze, straddling Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

With an installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts, the dam is expected to generate more than 60 billion kW hours of electricity per year.