GE Energy has received a contract of US$7.8 million to supply three turbine-generator sets for the Liuhong Hydropower Station, a new facility to be built on the Meigu River in Sichuan Province.

Liuhong will be the first hydropower plant on the Meigu River, a major tributary of the Jinsha River which flows into the Yangtze, the longest river in Asia and third longest in the world. The plant will have an installed capacity of 180 megawatts, and is expected to supply 797 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year for the China power grid.

The GE contract was awarded by the Chengdu Hydroelectric Investigation and Design Institute of State Power Corporation (CHIDI). Owner of the new power plant is Sichuan Meigu River Hydropower Development Ltd., which is comprised of China Hydroelectric Engineering Consulting Co., China Sino Hydro Corporation, China Power Engineering Consulting Corp. and CHIDI. GE will design, manufacture and supply three Francis hydro turbine-generators, each with an output of 60 megawatts. The scope of the contract also includes valves, spare parts, and supervision of the installation of the three units.

The equipment will be manufactured by GE Hydro Asia Co., Ltd. (GEHA) in Hangzhou, China. This company was formed in 2003 when GE Energy acquired majority ownership of Kvaerner Power Equipment Co., Ltd. (Kvaerner Hangfa) of Hangzhou, one of the leading suppliers of hydropower generation equipment in China. The first turbine-generator unit and related spare parts will be shipped from Hangzhou in May of 2005 and the last unit will be shipped in May of 2006. The first unit is scheduled to start commercial operation by September 30, 2006, the second unit by December 30, 2006 and the third unit by March 30, 2007.

Following the Liuhong project, four other hydropower plants are planned for the Meigu River, with a total installed capacity of 457 megawatts.