Recent announcements from the 21st China Civil Engineering Zhan Tianyou Awards have spotlighted a Guiyang High-Tech Zone enterprise for its contributions to major plateau hydropower initiatives. PowerChina Guiyang Engineering Corporation Limited, also known as PowerChina Guiyang, has secured this prestigious honor for its involvement in both the Yarlung Zangbo River Dagu Hydropower Station in Tibet and the Suwalong Hydropower Station on the upper reaches of the Jinsha River. This dual recognition marks a notable achievement of having two projects honored simultaneously with what is considered the highest scientific and technological accolade in China's civil engineering sector.
The Zhan Tianyou Award, often hailed as the 'Oscar' of China's civil engineering field, is dedicated to lauding major projects that distinguish themselves through outstanding scientific and technological innovation. The two power stations recognized this year are situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, an environment characterized by severe cold, low oxygen levels, complex geological conditions, and a fragile ecosystem, all of which presented formidable construction challenges.
The Dagu Hydropower Station, located in Sangri County, Shannan City, Tibet, serves as a critical piece of energy infrastructure supporting the region's development, with a total installed capacity of 660 megawatts. PowerChina Guiyang was tasked with pre-construction planning, main project construction supervision, and third-party geophysical testing. Throughout the construction phase, the supervision team remained steadfast on the snowy plateau, contending with harsh conditions like high-altitude cold and significant temperature swings. They implemented exemplary quality management protocols and comprehensive oversight to reinforce the project's safety and quality defenses. The station has set multiple world records in technology and has generated over 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, injecting a green energy impetus into Tibet's power security and local progress. This project has also yielded a wealth of research outcomes, including patents, construction methods, and scientific awards in plateau hydropower technology.
The Suwalong Hydropower Station spans the main stream of the Jinsha River at the border of Sichuan and Tibet. It stands as Tibet's first million-kilowatt-class large-scale hydropower project and a pioneering venture within the national 'West-to-East Power Transmission' relay energy base, with a total installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts. PowerChina Guiyang handled the project's preliminary stages and main works supervision, establishing a full-chain quality control system for pivotal components such as asphalt core wall dam filling and unit installation and commissioning. The project encountered two landslide-dammed lake geological disasters during construction, but the team responded swiftly with coordinated actions, successfully mitigating major engineering risks. The station notably achieved an impressive construction tempo for plateau hydropower, with three units starting operations in one quarter and full commissioning within six months. It also pioneered digital construction management techniques and, prioritizing ecological balance, developed China's first high-dam two-way intelligent fish passage system and Tibet's largest fish breeding facility. This approach has harmonized clean energy development with biodiversity protection, generating a substantial repository of replicable expertise in plateau hydropower construction.
From the highland plains of Tibet to the border river between Sichuan and Tibet, the concurrent accolades for these two projects stand as strong validation of PowerChina Guiyang's commitment to technology-driven advancement and its strategic focus on the plateau market. As a technology and engineering firm rooted in the high-tech zone, the company has delivered integrated technical services spanning survey, supervision, and inspection. Through its efforts, it continues to leverage scientific innovation to facilitate the realization of key national clean energy projects, contributing Guizhou's engineering expertise to the development of large-scale infrastructure in challenging plateau environments.