In the deep mountains of Qili Township, Kecheng, Quzhou, the excavation trolley for the ventilation and safety tunnel has just completed the final section of surrounding rock support. The main construction of the Kecheng Pumped Storage Power Station in Zhejiang Province has officially started. This key pumped storage project in East China has officially entered the fast lane of core cavern and dam construction from the early preparation stage.

The core project has entered the stage of comprehensive excavation

The project is a key implementation project of the national pumped storage medium and long-term development plan, and is also a core component of Zhejiang Province's thousand trillion yuan project. It is led by a subsidiary of State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power. The total installed capacity of the power station is 1.2 million kilowatts, equipped with four single unit 300000 kilowatt reversible water turbine generators. The designed annual power generation is 1.2 billion kilowatt hours, and the annual pumping capacity is 1.6 billion kilowatt hours. The total construction period is 67 months, and it is planned to put all units into operation by 2031.

As of mid September 2026, the ventilation and safety tunnel that was previously connected has completed rock anchoring and spraying support, the first explosion operation of the main and auxiliary powerhouses has been successfully completed, and the first temporary road of C3 section has achieved full construction. After the comprehensive launch of the main project, the construction team will synchronously promote the excavation and pouring of the dam bodies of the upper and lower reservoirs of the underground powerhouse cavern group water conveyance tunnels, and carry out refined blasting operations based on the digital control platform to ensure the stability of the cavern structure under complex geological conditions.

East China Power Grid adds flexible regulation resources

The power station adopts a layout of upper and lower reservoirs, with the upper reservoir dam being 132.5 meters high, which is currently the tallest dam under construction for pumped storage power stations in Zhejiang Province. After the project is put into operation, it will provide Zhejiang power grid with a double regulation capacity of 2.4 million kilowatts, greatly improving the consumption capacity of intermittent clean energy such as wind and solar power. Each year, it can save about 233000 tons of standard coal consumption in the system, corresponding to a reduction of over 460000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. As the first domestic pumped storage project to achieve self balancing in the soil and rock storage, the permanent land acquisition area is reduced by about 42% compared to the conventional plan. Keywords: pumped storage power station, new energy

After the completion of the power station, it will undertake the functions of peak shaving, valley filling, frequency regulation, phase adjustment, and emergency backup for the power grid, greatly improving the flexibility of East China power grid dispatch and providing key support for power supply during peak summer and peak winter periods. The sound of explosions echoing faintly in the mountains and forests, this giant energy storage hub hidden in the mountains of western Zhejiang is laying a solid foundation for the construction of a new power system in East China.Editor/Cheng Liting