The Tianhuangping Pumped Storage Power Station () is a

pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

power station in Tianhuangping,

Anji County () is a county in the prefecture-level city of Huzhou in northwestern Zhejiang province, China. The county spans an area of , with a population of 461,800 as of the end of 2013. Located within the Yangtze River Delta, Anji County is a short dis ...

of Huzhou,

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The power station has an installed capacity of utilizing 6 reversible

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

s. Construction began in 1993 and the power station was completed in 2004.

Operation

Tianhuangping Dam

Situated on the

Daxi Creek The Daxi Creek () is a tributary of the Xitiao River in Anji County of Zhejiang Province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population ...

, the Tianhuangping Dam creates the power station's lower reservoir. The concrete face rock-fill

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

is high and long. The dam creates a reservoir that can store of water and contains an uncontrolled side-weir spillway that can discharge a design level of .

Upper reservoir

From the lower reservoir, water is pumped up into the upper reservoir which has a normal storage capacity of . The upper reservoir is artificial and cut into the mountain and created with the assistance of four saddle dams. When power is being generated, the water leaves the reservoir and falls through two long and diameter

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...

s down towards the power station which is above the lower reservoir. Before reaching the reversible turbines, the water branches off into six branch pipes.

Power station

The six branch pipes feed water into the six turbines. Each reversible Francis turbine has a installed capacity and maximum capacity. The turbines and generators are stored in an

underground power house An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components (e.g. machine hall, penstocks, and tailrace) from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods. One or mor ...

measuring long, wide and high. After power is produced, the water is discharged back into the lower reservoir and the entire process can repeat.

References

{{reflist Dams completed in 2004 Energy infrastructure completed in 2004 Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in China Hydroelectric power stations in Zhejiang Dams in China Concrete-face rock-fill dams Underground power stations

Operation

Tianhuangping Dam

Upper reservoir

Power station

See also

References