All four units of China’s Xiangjiaba underground hydro power plant have now successfully entered commercial operation. The four units were designed and manufactured in Alstom’s factory in Tianjin, China, and were commissioned in a record time for such large machines – at an average of one unit every two months. After a first phase of reliability trials, the units began successively commercial operation between November 2012 and June 2013.
The Xiangjiaba hydropower plant consists of eight units of 800 MW each (an 800 MW class Francis turbine coupled to an 889 MVA generator), installed by Alstom and China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), the developer of the project. The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2015. The Xiangjiaba project is one of the series of successful co-operations between Alstom and CTG, which included deliveries of Three Gorges Left Bank (8 units of 700 MW), Three Gorges Right Bank (6 units of 700 MW) and Three Gorges Underground (2 units of 700 MW).