Today (2nd), the two 637-meter-deep shafts of Zhejiang Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station, a key energy project in the country’s “14th Five-Year Plan”, were fully connected, setting a new record for the deepest shaft project in my country’s pumped storage field.
Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station is located in Songyang County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. It is designed to install four reversible hydroelectric generator sets with a single unit capacity of 350,000 kilowatts. The shaft that was penetrated this time is the core channel for energy conversion of the power station. Its depth reaches 637 meters, which is equivalent to embedding more than 200 stories vertically into the mountain. It is the largest project of its kind in the field of pumped hydro energy storage in China. Construction in ultra-deep and complex strata faces a series of technical challenges such as faults, water inflows, ventilation, and slag discharge. However, traditional methods have many problems such as low construction efficiency and difficult safety management and control.
General Manager of Three Gorges Construction Engineering Songyang Company, a subsidiary of China Three Gorges Group Sun Huixiang: The first 700-meter smart shaft complete set independently developed by my country uses 5G communication network and hundreds of sensors to transmit underground data back to the command center in real time, realizing a new intelligent construction model of "unmanned underground, operating above the ground" and achieving an industry record of a maximum monthly tunneling footage of 278.28 meters. The construction efficiency is nearly ten times higher than traditional methods.
According to the plan, the first unit of the power station will be put into operation in September 2027. After the power station is fully completed, it will mainly undertake tasks such as peak shaving, valley filling, energy storage, frequency regulation and emergency backup of the East China Power Grid. It will play an important role in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the regional power grid and improving clean energy consumption capabilities. This complete set of intelligent construction technologies for ultra-deep shafts also provides a reference for the overall technological progress of my country's pumped storage industry.
