On June 30, 2025, the first unit of the Bala Hydropower Station on the upper reaches of the Dadu River, designed by Qingyuan Company, was officially put into operation and began generating electricity. This development is of great significance for promoting the realization of the national "dual carbon" goals, boosting economic and social development in ethnic regions, optimizing the power grid structure, alleviating regional power supply shortages, and ensuring reliable electricity supply during peak summer demand.

The Bala Hydropower Station is located in Marcang City, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It is the second level of the "3 reservoirs and 28 levels" hydropower plan for the main stream of the Dadu River, equipped with 3 240000 kW mixed flow units and 1 26000 kW ecological unit, with a total installed capacity of 746000 kW. The maximum dam height of the power station is 140 meters, with a total storage capacity of 133.8 million cubic meters and a designed annual average power generation of 2.553 billion kilowatt hours. After the project is fully put into operation, it can save about 1.16 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 3 million tons per year.

Since 2007, Qingyuan has undertaken the main survey and design task of the project. In the past 20 years, we have been through many non-technical challenges, including the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake, environmental protection, proliferation and release, ecological base flow demonstration, repeated economic calculations, COVID-19 epidemic, and the 6.10 Markang earthquake cluster. We have also faced complex geological conditions and difficult design and construction of large underground caverns. The scale of individual buildings such as the spillway tunnel, diversion tunnel, and pressure regulating chamber of the Bala Hydropower Station is among the top in the hydropower industry. Since the main construction began at the end of 2020, more than 20 special studies and optimization designs have been carried out in collaboration with research institutions such as Tsinghua University, Hohai University, Sichuan University, and Ningda University, deeply tackling difficult issues such as deformation and seepage of large dams, and stability of surrounding rocks of large underground caverns. This has enabled the excavation support, structural design, and other important aspects of the project to reach an advanced level in the industry, while also balancing functionality, safety, and economy effectively, providing strong support for project quality, safety, progress, and investment control. The utilization of waste materials from the sand and gravel processing system for dam covering materials is groundbreaking and can provide valuable construction experience for similar projects in the future.

At present, the first unit has been successfully started, and the construction results are better than similar projects of the same period. The project has been promoted efficiently and standardized, and the achievements have been widely recognized, fully reflecting the spirit of unity, cooperation, and pragmatic progress of all participating parties. As a private design unit with over 30% of technical personnel and party members, standing at a critical juncture of development in the new era, we will conscientiously implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on high-quality development of the private economy, actively respond to the strategic deployment of the Power Construction Group, continue to uphold the concept of "responsibility, innovation, and excellence", continue to provide follow-up services and technical support, further play the leading role of design, and provide long-term stable operation support for the power station.

　　CCTV Video：The first unit of the Bara Hydropower Station in the upper reaches of the Dadu River has been put into operation and is generating electricity

　　Photo source: CCTV News