Longyang Gorge Hydropower Plant

At 11:10 pm on September 29, 1987, the first unit of the Longyang Gorge Hydropower Plant successfully passed a 72-hour trial operation and was added to the grid.

The Longyang Gorge Hydropower Plant project started in February, 1976. It is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, at the border of Gonghe County and Guinan County in Qinghai Province. The plant was the first of 15 power stations planned to be built on the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It plays a crucial function in controlling the currents of the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the quantities of water in the lower reaches. It controls a drainage area of 131,000 square kilometers and the runoff reaches 20.5 billion cubic meters, directly controlling almost 65 percent of the water from the upper reaches.