On June 5, 2026, machines roared at the construction site of Xulong Hydropower Station at the border of Deqin, Yunnan and Derong, Sichuan on the banks of the Jinsha River. On this day, the National Energy Group officially announced the results of the bidding candidates for the renovation project in the hub area: China Water Resources and Hydropower Fourth Engineering Bureau won the first place with a bid of 64.97 million yuan, while the lower priced Hydropower Eleventh Bureau came in second. The abnormal result of winning the bid at a high price has surprised many people, but it once again confirms the absolute dominance of China Power Construction in the hydropower field.

Billion dollar power plants enter sprint

The Xulong Hydropower Station has a total investment of 29.4 billion yuan, a total storage capacity of 847 million cubic meters, and the installation of four 600 MW units, with an average annual power generation of 10.514 billion kilowatt hours.

As the 12th stage of the thirteen stage cascade development of a reservoir in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River, it is also one of the core power sources of the West East power transmission strategy. The renovation project of the hub area in this bidding covers the construction tasks of dam ancillary buildings, underground powerhouses, switch stations, etc., marking the entry of this super project into the comprehensive construction stage.

The threshold for special decoration is extremely high

Unlike ordinary housing construction projects, the decoration of hydropower station hubs faces extreme environments such as high humidity, strong vibration, and limited space.

This bidding requires the procurement of lighting fixtures and sockets, intelligent lighting systems, cross river lighting design and construction, special deepening design of dry hanging stone and glass curtain walls for switch stations, etc. Among them, cross river lighting needs to have the ability to withstand 12 level strong winds and high-intensity earthquakes, with a construction period of up to 53 months. The high technological threshold makes it difficult for ordinary decoration enterprises to undertake.

Winning at a high price is well deserved

The winning bid results showed that Hydropower Fourth Bureau ranked first among the candidates with a bid price of 64.97333 million yuan, while Hydropower Eleventh Bureau ranked second with a bid price of 63.968569 million yuan. Keywords: New Energy News Network, Hydroelectric Infrastructure

The Water and Electricity Fourth Bureau, which offered a higher price, emerged victorious due to its rich performance in the field of hydropower, superior specialized design solutions, and as the leading construction party of Xulong Hydropower Station, it has a thorough understanding of the project, which can significantly reduce cross operation conflicts. After the completion of the power station, the average annual power generation will be about 10.5 billion kilowatt hours, replacing 3.15 million tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8 million tons, directly targeting the 2030 production target.Editor/Gao Xue