The research on the Bala Hydropower Station began in 2007, with an installed capacity of 746MW and an investment of 1.2 billion USD. The owner is China Power Construction Corporation. Construction commenced in early 2021. The Bala Hydropower Station consists of a 140-meter-high CFRD (Concrete Face Rockfill Dam), a tunnel about 7 kilometers long, and a group of underground power house caverns. The power station has a design flow rate of 400 cubic meters per second. Throughout the process, we have conducted many thematic studies and optimizations. Currently, the dam filling has reached the top, and the second-phase face slab construction is underway. The water diversion tunnel has been completed, and the rotor installation for unit one is finished. The plan is to store water and generate electricity by the end of this year.

The first structure on the left bank is our spillway 1, which is an extra-large D-shaped cavern with a maximum excavation cross-section (width * height) of 19.6 * 22 meters, and a discharge capacity of 2700 cubic meters per second. The second structure is the flood discharge tunnel (spillway 2), with a tower height of 85 meters and a discharge capacity of 1100 cubic meters per second.

The diversion tunnel has been in use for 3 years, with a maximum flow capacity of 2760 cubic meters per second. The cross-sectional dimensions are 10 * 11.6 meters (width * height) and it is 980 meters long.

The dam in the middle, a 140-meter-high CRFD (Concrete Face Rockfill Dam), has a dam axis length of 286.5 meters, with a total fill volume of 3.6 million cubic meters; currently, the filling has reached the dam crest elevation, and the second phase of the face slab construction is underway.

On the right bank, we have the intake tower of our water diversion system, which has been basically cast to the top elevation of the gate. The water flows through the intake tower into a circular water diversion tunnel with a diameter of 14 meters; it is then conveyed to an upstream surge shaft that is 33 meters in diameter and 90 meters high. From there, three pressure pipes connect to three generators for power generation. After passing through the turbines, the water is discharged into the downstream river channel via a tailrace surge tank with a diameter of 45 meters and a tailwater tunnel.