The Jinping Hydropower Project, including Jinping I & II, with a total capacity
of 8 400 MW, is located in the lower reaches of Yalong River in Yi Autonomous
Prefecture of Liangshan, Sichuan Province. Jinping I project has the installed
capacity of 3 600 MW, the annual reservoir storage of 7.77 billion cu.m, and
a double-curvature concrete arch dam of 305 m height, the highest arch dam
in the world. Immediately at the lower reach is Jinping II project, which has
the installed capacity of 4 800 MW. To utilize the 150 km long Yalong river
bend, Jinping II project has 4 power tunnels, 2 access tunnels, and 1 drainage
tunnel, each 17 km long, which cut through the Jinping mountain with
the thickest overburden of 2525 m. A water head of 310 m were obtailed for
power generation. This project has total tunnel length of 118 km.
The construction of Jinping I and II projects began at Nov. 2005 and Jan.
2007, respectively. In this paper, descriptions will be given on the access
transportation system, hydraulic structure layout, power tunnels, underground
powerhouse, and also the project construction works, etc. Brief description
will also be given on the dam and the power generating equipment.