The Xiangshuijian 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 ...

hydroelectric 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 ...

power station located southwest of

Wuhu City Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'anshan ...

Sanshan District Sanshan District () is a district of the city of Wuhu, Anhui Province, located on the southern (right) bank of the Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest ...

Anhui Province Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, China. Construction on the power station began on 8 December 2006 and the upper reservoir dam was completed in October 2010. The first unit was commissioned on 1 December 2011 and the last on 17 November 2012. The power station operates by shifting water between an upper and lower reservoir to generate electricity. The lower reservoir was formed with the creation of the Xiangshuijian Lower Dam in a valley. The Xiangshuijian Upper Reservoir is in another valley above the west side of the lower reservoir. During periods of low energy demand, such as at night, water is pumped from Xiangshuijian Lower Reservoir up to the upper reservoir. When energy demand is high, the water is released back down to the lower reservoir but the pump turbines that pumped the water up now reverse mode and serve as generators to produce electricity. The process is repeated as necessary and the plant serves as a

peaking power plant Peaking power plants, also known as peaker plants, and occasionally just "peakers", are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity. Because they supply power only occasionally, the power ...

. The lower reservoir is created by a tall circular dam. It holds up to of water. The upper reservoir is created by an tall and long

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, ...

. It can withhold up to of water. Water from the upper reservoir is sent to the

underground power station 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 ...

down near the lower reservoir through headrace/

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 ...

pipes. The drop in elevation between the upper and lower reservoir affords a

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a specific measurement of liquid pressure above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22. It is usually measured as a liquid surface elevation, expressed in units of length, ...

(water drop) of .

References

{{reflist Dams completed in 2010 Energy infrastructure completed in 2012 Dams in China Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in China Hydroelectric power stations in Anhui Concrete-face rock-fill dams 2012 establishments in China Buildings and structures in Wuhu Underground power stations

See also

References