World’s Tallest Dam Begins Operations in Sichuan Province
China has reached a landmark milestone in global hydropower engineering as the first generating unit of the Shuangjiangkou (双江口) Hydropower Station on the Dadu River in Sichuan Province was officially connected to the grid on June 26, 2026. Operated by China National Energy Group, the 2,000 MW project features the world’s tallest dam at 315 meters and is expected to generate approximately 7.7 billion kWh of electricity annually, significantly bolstering China’s clean energy supply capacity.
A Monumental Engineering Achievement
Located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, spanning Ma’erkang City and Jinchuan County, the Shuangjiangkou station is a gravel soil core wall rockfill dam — the tallest of its kind ever built. According to Xinhua News, the dam’s total fill volume exceeds 46 million cubic meters, enough earth to build a one-meter-square wall stretching around the Earth’s equator.
The project, approved in 2015 and built over 11 years, overcame significant technical challenges including high-geostress underground powerhouse excavation, ultra-large-scale earth-rock fill operations, and long-distance material transport. The result is a structure that holds multiple world records: the world’s largest capacity hydraulic hoist, the largest cross-section flood discharge tunnel in hydropower engineering, and generating units capable of operating across an 80-meter water head variation — a world-leading figure.
Powering the Grid and Protecting the Basin
The Shuangjiangkou station serves as the controlling upstream reservoir for the entire Dadu River cascade. With a total reservoir capacity of 2.9 billion cubic meters and annual regulation capability, it provides critical flexibility for the Sichuan power grid. As China News Service reported, once fully operational, the project will deliver an additional 6.6 billion kWh per year in generation benefits to downstream cascade power stations.
Xue Shouning, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Dadu River Shuangjiangkou Company under China National Energy Group, told Xinhua that “this project will significantly enhance the peak regulation and frequency modulation capabilities of the Sichuan power grid, optimize the power system’s energy structure, and effectively strengthen the flood control capacity of the Dadu River basin, becoming an important flood control safety barrier for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.”
Strategic Role in China’s Energy Transition
The commissioning of Shuangjiangkou comes at a critical time for China’s energy landscape. According to Science and Technology Daily, China’s annual electricity demand growth during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period (2026–2030) is projected at approximately 600 billion kWh per year — equivalent to adding the electricity consumption of a medium-sized economy annually.
With the addition of Shuangjiangkou, China National Energy Group’s total installed hydropower and new energy capacity on the Dadu River has reached nearly 15,000 MW, delivering over 60 billion kWh of clean energy annually. This displaces approximately 17 million tons of coal and reduces CO₂ emissions by about 46 million tons per year, directly supporting China’s dual carbon goals of peaking emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
As CNR reported, a spokesperson for the National Energy Group emphasized that the reservoir’s annual regulation capacity will “enhance the peak regulation and frequency modulation capabilities of the Sichuan power grid, optimize the power system’s energy structure, raise the flood control standards of the entire Dadu River basin, and become an important flood control safety barrier for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.”
Environmental Considerations and Ecological Measures
The project includes notable environmental mitigation efforts. The Dadu River basin has implemented comprehensive ecological restoration and fish protection measures, including a continuous fishway network connecting eight downstream cascade stations — a first in Chinese hydropower development. Xue Shouning noted that the project “provides more solid green energy support for the high-quality development of the southwestern region.”
However, large dams in ecologically sensitive mountain regions such as Aba Prefecture — home to significant biodiversity and Tibetan and Qiang ethnic communities — typically raise environmental and social considerations that merit continued monitoring as the project moves toward full operational capacity.
What to Watch For
With the first generating unit now online, attention turns to the commissioning of the remaining units and the project’s path to full 2,000 MW capacity. The Shuangjiangkou station also underpins the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, a key national strategy for balanced regional development in western China. As one of the most significant hydropower projects of the decade, its operational performance will be closely watched by the global energy industry as a benchmark for high-dam engineering and large-scale renewable integration.