Tackling Challenges, Advancing Smart Manufacturing, Nurturing Talents: Every StepLeaves a Mark—A Profile of Wu Tao, Recipient of the Hubei May Day Labor Medal

Along the mighty Yangtze River stretches the world's largest clean energy corridor, consisting of six cascade hydropower plants—Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges, and Gezhouba—stretching over 1,800 kilometers. It safeguards the Yangtze River's stability and powers nearly half of China. Behind these key national projects, there is a group of craftsmanship-driven maintenance artisans who provide expert diagnosis and maintenance for over 100 generating units across the six hydropower plants, keeping the "vital heartbeat" of these key national projects strong. Wu Tao from the Overhaul and Maintenance Factory of CYPC is an outstanding representative of this dedicated team.

Refining Premium Work on Mega-Equipment

Wu Tao specializes in the maintenance and upgrading of large-scale hydro-generating units. A typical rotor of such a hydro-generating unit measures ten-plus meters in diameter and weighs over 1,000 tons, while a Level-A overhaul involves more than 1,000 procedures. He firmly adheres to the work philosophy of "Lean Maintenance for Premium-Quality Units".

Over more than 30 years, from Gezhouba to Wudongde, he has taken part in about 180 unit maintenances and successfully completed 21 renewal and upgrading projects for hydro-generating units at the Gezhouba Hydropower Plant. The premium rate of maintained units has remained 100% for the past three consecutive years.

In 2022, during the first Level-A overhaul of a generating unit at the Xiluodu Hydropower Plant, Wu Tao led his team to optimize workflows and achieved the impressive pace of "lifting one major component every two days". The team set a record for the shortest overhaul duration for a hydro-generating unit of 700 MW and above, ushering large-scale hydro-generating unit overhaul into the 100-day benchmark era—a 20% efficiency gain compared with the previous 120-day standard. He later led his team to crack multiple core technical challenges in the overhaul of the Changlongshan Pumped Storage Unit and the 850 MW unit at the Wudongde Hydropower Plant, providing solid support for stable power supply in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

When asked why he works so relentlessly, he replied sincerely: "Only by turning units into premium-quality equipment and ensuring stable, trouble-free operation can we guarantee steady power generation."

Empowering Robots for Precision Tasks

"Work should not follow old routines blindly. We must solve long-standing problems with new thinking and achieve new results with new methods." Wu Tao is always eager to explore innovative solutions in his work.

Prolonged scouring by sediment causes cavitation pits and cracks on turbine blades. Rectification requires grinding away damaged areas and cladding new metal. Traditionally, this work is done manually in space-confined and dusty runner chambers, demanding millimeter-level accuracy and steady hands. Wu Tao wondered: Could robots take over this job?

Starting from scratch, he and his team delved into laser cladding, 3D scanning, and intelligent grinding, bringing cutting-edge technologies to the maintenance site. After months of iterations and dozens of on-site tests, they developed China's first set of integrated intelligent on-site rectification equipment, which enables autonomous measurement, milling, grinding, and polishing operations for turbine blades and runner chambers. The system delivers non-contact surface scanning and automatic path planning, with machining accuracy of ±0.1 mm or higher—10 times higher and 2.3 times more efficient than comparable foreign equipment. This groundbreaking innovation thus won the First Prize of Hubei Science and Technology Progress Award for its technological breakthroughs and exceptional performance.

He also established an "Innovation–Competition–Application" management mechanism, which has facilitated the on-site deployment of new equipment and technologies such as the main transformer transfer system, head cover additive-subtractive manufacturing robot, and high-accuracy on-site 3D measuring device. This mechanism deeply integrates equipment R&D with skills competitions and turns lab achievements into practical maintenance solutions.

Passing on Core Maintenance Expertise

Wu Tao holds a clear belief: "Even the strongest person can achieve little alone. We must equip more people with top-tier skills." Building a high-caliber, battle-tested maintenance team is the long-term solution.

Guided by the principle of "Nurturing Talent with Craftsmanship, Serving the Country with Skills", Wu Tao pioneered a "Dual-Mentor + Skill Evaluation" training system. Each young employee is assigned two mentors: one for professional skills and one for innovative thinking. Over the past three years, 57 mentor–mentee agreements have been signed, achieving full coverage of technical inheritance for young staff. Leveraging the Overhaul and Maintenance Factory's learning roadmap, post-evaluation question banks, on-site practical contests and technical Q&A sessions, the team has steadily enhanced employees' core competence and on-site capabilities. Multiple labor competitions—including unit center-level adjustment, brake overhaul and laser measurement—have been held to sharpen skills; two of these were selected for Hubei Province's "Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand" Labor Competitions.

In 2021, Wu Tao led his team to compete in the 36th " Harbin Electric Cup" National Skills Competition for Maintenance of Large Hydro-generating Units, where his team swept both individual and team championships. To date, his team has produced a cohort of highly skilled talents, including National Model Workers, National Technical Experts, Great Country Craftsmen, and Jingchu Craftsmen. He has also received numerous personal honors, such as the Outstanding Individual Award for National Skilled Talent Cultivation, Excellent Performer in Provincial Labor Competitions, and Outstanding Party Affairs Worker of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG). In May 2026, he was awarded the Hubei May 1 Labor Medal, a full testament to the outstanding qualities of industrial workers in the new era who excel in both technical expertise and team leadership.

Whether mentoring young professionals on maintenance sites or driving equipment innovation in his studio, Wu Tao's expertise has long transcended personal skill accumulation—it has become the collective confidence of a team facing the future.

From striving at Gezhouba to scaling new heights at Wudongde, Wu Tao has embedded craftsmanship into key national project over three decades. He has forged excellence through tackling tough challenges, shaped the future through smart manufacturing, and laid a solid foundation by nurturing talents. This May 1 Labor Medal is not only a personal honor but also a witness to the commitment of countless CTG staff who stand fast along the Yangtze River and serve the country with their skills.