Baoquan Pumped Storage Power Station

The Baoquan Pumped Storage Power Station is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station located 34 km northeast of Jiaozuo in Henan Province, China. It was constructed between June 2004 and December 2011 and has a 1200 MW installed capacity. The power station operates by shifting water between an upper and lower reservoir to generate electricity.

Upper Baoquan Reservoir
The Upper Baoquan Reservoir was formed by excavating a valley 1.5 km above the lower reservoir and constructing a 94.8 m tall concrete-face rock-fill dam. The walls around the reservoir are blanketed with concrete and asphalt. The upper reservoir has a 8270000 m3 storage capacity of which 6200000 m3 can be used for power generation.

Baoquan Reservoir
The lower reservoir was formed by raising the height of the existing Lower Baoquan Dam while the Upper Baoquan Reservoir is located in a valley above the north side of the lower reservoir. During periods of low energy demand, such as at night, water is pumped from Baoquan Reservoir up to the upper reservoir. When energy demand is high, the water is released back down to the lower reservoir but the pump turbines that pumped the water up now reverse mode and serve as generators to produce electricity. The process is repeated as necessary and the plant serves as a peaking power plant.

The lower reservoir can store up to 16500000 m3 of water. The drop in elevation between the upper and lower reservoir affords a hydraulic head of 562.5 m. While generating electricity, the pump-generators produce 2,010 million kWh annually but consumes 2,642 million kWh when pumping. Pumping when energy is low in demand and cheap helps cover the excess cost.