Jinping hydropower project is located in the lower reach of Yalong River, in Liangshan autonomous region, Sichuan Province. Jinping project consists of Jin ping I and Jinping II, with the total installed capacity of 8400 MW. Jinping I project, with the installed capacity of 3600 MW, has a concrete double-curvature arch dam of 305 m high, the highest arch dam in the world. Jinping II project, with the installed capacity of 4800 MW, has the largest scale of underground power tunnels complex in the world. With four 16.7 km long power tunnels through Jinping Mountain to the downstream of 150km long Big River Bend to create a 310 m water head for power generation. The construction of Jinping I and Jinping II project started in Nov. 2005 and Jan. 2007 respectively. In this paper, a detailed description was made of the project, the access transportation, the project layout of the structures, the power tunnels system, the underground powerhouse complex, the dam, and the electrical and mechanical equipment, etc., and also the current construction progress of the project.
BK