The Baishan Dam (, ''meaning: "White Mountain Dam"'') is an arch-gravity dam on the Second Songhua River near the town of Baishanzhen, Huadian,

Jilin Province ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The purpose of the dam is

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power generation and flood control. The dam supplies water to five turbine-generators in two different powerhouses for an installed capacity of while it can also control a design flood. Additionally, it has 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. A PSH system stores energy in the form of gravitational potent ...

hydroelectric generation capacity. It is named after

Baekdu Mountain Paektu Mountain or Baekdu Mountain () is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. In China, it is known as Changbai Mountain (). At , it is the tallest mountain in North Korea and Northeast China and the tallest mountai ...

(White Mountain), near the city of

Baishan Baishan ( zh, s=白山 , p=Báishān), is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jilin province, in the Northeast China, Dongbei (northeastern) part of China. "" literally means "White Mountain", and is named after Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长 ...

Construction

Construction on the dam began in May 1975, the reservoir began to fill on September 16, 1982 and by the end of 1984, the first phase of three generators was operational. Another two generators in the project's second phase were operational by 1992. The dam submerged an area of , displacing about 10,300 people. In March 2000, a feasibility study report on a

capability for the dam was approved. In August 2002, construction started on installing two 150 MW reversible pump generators and by July 2006, they were operational.

Design

The Baishan Dam is a tall and long arch gravity dam composed of of concrete. It withholds a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

of which is active or "useful" storage and is flood storage. The dam's

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

contains four openings and three mid-level openings on its orifice. All the dam's openings can discharge a design of , check standard of and maximum of of water. The dam powers three separate power stations. The first station to be constructed is located underground and contains 3 x 300 MW

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 pro ...

generators while the second, located on the left bank slightly downstream contains 2 x 300 MW Francis turbine generators. The third portion of the dam's power station is 2 x 150 MW pump-generators. The dam's current reservoir serves as the upper and the Hongshi Dam's reservoir downstream serves as the lower.

References

{{reflist Dams on the Second Songhua River Dams in China Arch–gravity dams Buildings and structures in Jilin Hydroelectric power stations in Jilin Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in China Baishan Dams completed in 1984 Energy infrastructure completed in 1984 Energy infrastructure completed in 1992 Energy infrastructure completed in 2006

Construction

Design

See also

References