China’s giant Baihetan hydropower plant begins generating electricity

China’s giant Baihetan hydropower plant on the upstream branch of the Yangtze river has begun generating electricity for the first time on Monday, in a three day trial, reported state broadcaster CCTV.

The project's first two 1-gigawatt (GW) turbines will go into formal operation after this three day trial, Reuters reported. The project will consist of 16 units.

Baihetan was built by the China Three Gorges Corporation. It is located on the border between the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. It is the world’s second largest after the Three Gorges dam once completed on July 1^st of this year.

The Three Gorges Corporation said it was one of China's biggest and most challenging engineering projects, with a dam height of 289 meters (948 feet), it took four years to build.

The project has been designed to control over water flows during the flooding season in the summer. It is also vital component to generate electricity for the eastern coast that is high energy consuming part of China. It has the capacity to produce 62 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.

The first units of the dam will go into operation in July this year. It will become fully operational a year after.