The Bihai Power Plant () is a

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

in Xiulin Township,

Hualien County Hualien County (Mandarin Wade–Giles: Hua¹-lien² Hsien⁴; Pīnyīn: ''Huālián Xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Hoa-lian-koān'' or ''Hoa-liân-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Fâ-lièn-yen''; Amis: ''Kalingko'') is a county on the east coast of Taiwan. It ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

History

The geological survey and exploratory drilling for the project were started in 1996 and construction was started in 2001. After 15 years of preparatory and construction work, the power plant went into commercial operation on 10 December 2011.

Dam and reservoir

The power plant was established from the construction of concrete gravity dam at an altitude of 545 meters along the Hoping River basin in Hualien County. The dam at () created a reservoir with a capacity of 635,000 m³. An intake valve was built connecting the dam with a 6,549 meter long headrace tunnel to Bihai Power Plant located at the downstream side at an altitude of 100 meters where a vertical

Pelton turbine The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the trad ...

of 61.2 MW is installed.

Generation

The power plant is expected to generate 237 GWh every year to residents of Hualien County to relieve the previous burden for

Taipower The Taiwan Power Company (, Taipower; ) is a state-owned electric power industry providing electricity to Taiwan and off-shore islands of the Republic of China. History Taipower was established on 1 May 1946. Its origins can be traced to 1919 ...

to import electricity from

Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant The Mingtan Dam () is a dam that spans the Shuili River about downstream from the outlet of Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan with a height of about . It forms Mingtan Reservoir which is the lower reservoir for the Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro ...

Nantou County Nantou County (; Hokkien POJ: ''Lâm-tâu-koān''; Hakka PFS: ''Nàm-thèu-yen'') is the second largest county of Taiwan by area, located in the central part of the country. It is also the only non-coastal county in Taiwan. Its name derives fro ...

and

Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant The Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant ( or 核三; ''Hésān'') is a nuclear power plant located near South Bay, Hengchun, Pingtung County, Taiwan. The plant is Taiwan's third nuclear power plant and second-largest in generation capacity. The expect ...

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

which was very costly. The 18 hours of daily water capture and storage will generate enough electricity to supply the six hours of peak load in the region.

Safety

The power plant will open the

floodgate Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and c ...

to release excessive water during high river intensity to prevent the buildup of sediment.

Financing

The project costed

NT$ The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency of Taiwan. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars ...

16.5 billion.

References