GE CONNECTS ALL UNITS AT 1.2 GW JINZHAI PUMPED STORAGE HYDRO POWER PLANT IN CHINA

In line with the planned schedule, all units of the Jinzhai pumped storage power plant have now been successfully connected to grid and completed 15 days of trial operation, by this moment, all units are under commercial operation.

The 1.2 GW Jinzhai hydro power plant project will play a key role in this journey to a stronger energy mix in the country. The project's annual generating capacity represents about 1.4 times the annual household electricity consumption in Jinzhai. Acting as a sustainable giant energy storage system, the Jinzhai pumped storage station will save up to 120,000 tons of coal and reduce 240,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

China aims to build more than 200 pumped storage stations with a combined capacity of 270 gigawatts by 2025 (Source: Bloomberg), to help solve grid stability challenge and integrate more renewable energy into the Chinese grid.

Pumped storage units help stabilize the grid by acting act as giant batteries: water is pumped from the lower to the upper reservoir in times of surplus energy and, in times of demand, water from the upper reservoir is released, generating electricity as the water passes through the turbine.

This project adds up to the +12 GW of pumped storage solutions GE has delivered in China, which represent more than 25% of the installed base in the country. In the world, more than 30% of hydro storage plants are equipped with GE technology.