China unveiled a turbine with the largest diameter of 20 feet 5 inches. Each turbine is constructed from martensitic steel. They are equipped with 21 water ladles each and weigh 80 tons each. They are rated at 500 MW individually, but the real launch is far away.
These impulse turbines will be placed on the Yuqu River, at the Datang Zala Hydropower Station. Yuqu River is a small tributary of the Nu River in the Tibetan region. It is a high-head hydropower station where water drops from 328 feet above.
This high vertical drop will allow water to fall with strong speed and force that will, in turn, help the turbine to work at remarkable efficiency. Together with advanced ladle design, it is expected that efficiency will jump to 92.6%. It will generate 1,90,000 KWh of extra power per day.
The Datang Zala Hydropower Plant will generate around 4 billion kWh of energy annually, which is equal to burning 1.3 million tons of coal. The total installed capacity of this hydropower station will be 1000 MW. These massive turbines were built by Harbin Electric in 4 years. The overall project is built by China Datang Corporation. This project is expected to begin operating in 2028.
Impulse turbines are a type of turbine which operate in air instead of being submerged in water. High-pressure water is aimed at buckets of the turbine to turn it. Therefore, strong steel like martensitic steel was chosen to build this turbine. It can tolerate the strong force of water 24/7.
The Nu River flows from Tibet to Myanmar and finally drains into the Andaman Sea. Being an international waterway, constructing hydropower stations has stirred regional tensions. In 2011, Myanmar blocked China from building a hydropower project on the Irrawaddy River. For this project, what will be Myanmar’s reaction is yet to be seen.
Recently, China developed the largest solar plant, and now it unveiled the largest turbine. China is not just leading globally in solar power but hydropower as well. China aims to become carbon neutral by 2026 with the development of new tech in hydropower. China is a step closer to achieving its goal.
Source
https://newatlas.com/energy/china-worlds-first-500-mw-impulse-turbine
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