(Yicai Global) Dec. 20 -- China’s 16-gigawatt Baihetan hydropower plant, the world’s second largest, began producing clean energy today.

Located on the Jinsha river, an upstream branch of the Yangtze river, the plant is expected to generate an average 62.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, saving 19.68 million tons of standard coal, Beijing-based China Three Gorges, its developer, said in a press release.

Baihetan has 16 units of hydroturbine generator sets with a per-unit capacity of 1 million kilowatts for a total installed capacity of 16 GW, second only to the Three Gorges hydropower station. The electricity it produces will supply Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in eastern China.

These projects are expected to be put into full operation next year, when it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 51.6 million tons a year. That is of great importance to improving the surrounding environment and helping China achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, the press release noted.

As a tributary in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, the Jinsha is 3,479 kilometers long and has a natural drop of 5,100 meters, with total hyrdoenergy resources of 100 GW.

In addition to Baihetan, China Three Gorges has developed three other large power plants in the lower reaches of the Jinsha, with a total installed capacity of over 46 GW. At present, the average annual power generated by the four will top 200 billion kWh, equivalent to that generated by two of the Three Gorges projects.

Editor: Peter Thomas