CCTV News: The reporter learned from the State Grid that on the 10th, the No. 3 unit of the State Grid Xinyuan Jiangsu Jurong Pumped Storage Power Station, the world's highest pumped storage power station, was officially connected to the grid to generate power. So far, all three units of the station have been put into operation, with a grid-connected capacity of 675,000 kilowatts. This 60-storey power station will add a new large-scale clean energy "regulator" to the Yangtze River Delta region.

Jurong Pumped Storage Power Station is located in Jurong City, Jiangsu Province. The main project started construction in March 2017. The power station plans to install 6 225,000 kilowatt reversible water pump and wheel generator sets, with a total installed capacity of 1.35 million kilowatts and a total investment of more than 9.6 billion yuan.

Wang Chenhui, director of the Development Department of State Grid Zhenjiang Power Supply Company, said: "After all units of the power station are put into production at the end of this year, they can save 140,000 tons of standard coal each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 349,000 tons."

It is understood that except for the three units that have been put into operation, the remaining three units of the Jurong Pumped Storage Power Station are still in the process of installation and commissioning, and are planned to be incorporated into the State Grid by the end of this year. By then, 1.35 billion kWh of green electricity will be generated every year.

The first batch of units of the world's highest pumped storage power station are officially connected to the grid to generate power, providing experience for the construction of pumped storage power stations in high-load plain areas.

The operation of pumped storage power stations requires a certain height gap between up and down reservoirs. Jurong Pumped Storage Power Station has the world's tallest upper reservoir dam, so why build such a high dam? What is the significance of this project? Let's continue to look.

As a major economic province, Jiangsu's maximum electricity load has exceeded 100 million kilowatts for nine consecutive years. At the same time, the installed capacity of new energy such as photovoltaics and wind power has maintained rapid growth. It is crucial to build pumped storage power stations here to regulate the balance of the power grid and ensure stable usage.

State Grid Jiangsu Power Dispatch Control Center Cui Yu said: "In the context of the dual growth of electricity consumption and new energy installed capacity, power supply faces more new challenges. As a high-quality ‘power balance resource’, pumped storage power stations can provide the power grid with a safer, more reliable, green and cleaner power guarantee."

Jiangsu has a flat terrain, so it is not easy to build a pumped storage power station. The engineers used the soil and rock dug out of the Shangshui Reservoir and other areas to "build tall buildings" on the flat ground and piled up the world's tallest pumped storage power station dam.

State Grid Xinyuan Jiangsu Jurong Pumped Storage Co., Ltd. Chen Hongchun, chairman of State Grid Xinyuan Jiangsu Jurong Pumped Storage Power Station, said: "The dam height of the Shangreservoir dam reaches 182.3 meters, and the water storage capacity of the Shangreservoir 17.07 million cubic meters, equivalent to the water storage capacity of 1.2 West Lakes, creating a number of industry records and providing a demonstration and reference for the construction of pumped storage power stations in high-load plains in China."

According to the plan, by 2027, the scale of pumped storage power stations in my country will reach more than 80 million kilowatts, supporting the national new energy power generation account for more than 20%. At the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Jiangsu will also focus on promoting the construction of three pumped storage power stations, forming a pumped storage cluster with a total installed capacity of 6.35 million kilowatts, further optimizing the energy allocation in the Yangtze River Delta region, and promoting the transformation of clean and low-carbon energy.