Longtan Hydropower Plant Begins Water Storage in China
2 min readThe reservoir of the Longtan hydropower project，China’s third largest hydroelectric plant，began storing water on Saturday when four sluice gates were lowered to stop the flow of the Hongshui River.
The project is a key component of the government’s campaign to develop the western regions and to bring electricity to the economically developed，but energy demanding eastern and coastal areas.
The water storage would enable the project to begin generating next May，two months ahead of schedule，said Dai Bo，general manager of Longtan Hydropower Development Co.of China Datang Corporation（CDT）.
It would take eight to 18 days to raise the water level in the reservoir from 215 to 290.5 meters，and the level would rise to 375 meters in August 2009，said Zhong Jun，chairman of Longtan Hydropower Development，in charge of the water storage process.
The process would have no effect further down the Pearl River because another downstream hydropower project would increase the water discharge，sad deputy general manager Long Xianjin.
Chu Yueting，another general manager，said the company had worked out countermeasures to possible problems，including earthquakes，silting and pollution.
Located in northwest Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region，the Longtan project lies on the Honghe River，a major tributary of the Pearl River.It is China’s third largest after the Three Gorges Project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River，and Xiluodu hydropower project on Jinsha River，a tributary of the Yangtze.
Longtan hydropower project is just one of the many water control facilities being constructed in west China.
Ma Hongqi，a hydroelectric specialist and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering，said China was at a construction peak in hydropower projects，most ofwhich are being built in west China，during the 1lth Five-Year Plan period（2006-2010）and would experience another peak from 2012 to 2016 when many of the projects would begin generating.
China boasts 540 million kw of exploitable hydro-electric resources，most of which are concentrated on rivers in west China.Only 24 percent of the country’s hydro-electric resources are utilized.
The country will have the world’s highest capacity of hydroelectric plants at 125 million kw by 2010，accounting for 19 percent of national capacity.Total installed capacity was 508 million kw last year.
By 2010，40 percent of the country’s hydroelectric resources will be utilized，said Ma.
