The Liyuan Dam is a

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 ...

on the

Jinsha River The Jinsha River (, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ) is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger L ...

on the border of Yulong County and

Shangri-La County Shangri-La (, Tibetan: Gyalthang) is a county-level city in Northwestern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China and is the location of the seat of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, bordering Sichuan to the northwest, north, and ea ...

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The dam has an associated

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 an ...

power station with a 2,400 MW power station containing 4 x 600 MW generators. Construction on the river diversion for the dam began in 2008. It began to impound its reservoir in November 2014 and on December 28, 2014 the first generator was commissioned. The second generator was commissioned in July 2015. The dam withholds a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

of , of which is active or "useful" storage. The normal reservoir level is above sea level with a minimum of . The catchment area for the reservoir in the upstream basin is while the reservoir surface area is .

References

{{Yangtze dams , dam=Liyuan Dam, downriver= Ahai Dam, upriver=none Hydroelectric power stations in Yunnan Dams in China Dams on the Jinsha River Concrete-face rock-fill dams Dams completed in 2014 2014 establishments in China Energy infrastructure completed in 2014 Buildings and structures in Lijiang Buildings and structures in Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

See also

References