The combined installed capacity of the hydro generators at that time will reach 3.6 gigawatts (GW), the SGCC announced on the Greater Bay Area (GBA) portal.

     Once operating at full capacity, the Fengning station can generate 6.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of power annually – comparable to the annual output of Latvia (5.7 TWh), according to figures from BP’s 2020 Statistical Review of World Energy.

    The station is connected to two ultra-high voltage (500 KW) grids covering Beijing, Tianjing (continental China’s third largest city in terms of area) and the northern part of Hebei Province. The availability of accumulated capacity should allow for a balancing of risks of temporary reductions in generation from local wind farms and solar panels as well as allowing for a reduced carbon footprint.

    “(The station) can help save 480,000 tonnes of coal and reduce 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year,” the GBA portal quoted Wu Peizhi, deputy general manager of the power station, as saying. “It will help make the Olympics 100-percent the greenest ever in history.”  

    Hydropower accounted for 17 % of China’s overall generating output in 2020, according to the BP Statistical Review. The share attributed to all renewable energy sources stood at 11 % – China is the world leader in terms of growth of installed capacity of wind farms and solar panels.