Computerized plant management system for the Ertan hydro power plant

The Ertan hydropower plant is located on the river Yalong in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The parabolic double curvature arch dam is 240 m high and dams a reservoir of approximately 5.8x10⁹ m ³ of river water. Six hydroelectric units each with a capacity of 550 MW have been installed in the underground powerhouse. The annual energy output is 17,000 GWh. The powerplant´s first stage has started feeding 550 MW into the grid in July 1998. Since the beginning of 2000 all six generating sets are supplying a total af 3,300 MW of power. This paper describes a computerised plant management system for the Ertan hydropower plant