The morning mist gently brushes the banks of the Yangtze River, verdant hills glow in rich green, and the river surges onward. Nestled in the embrace of the "Mother River", the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project, hailed as a "hydroelectric monument of the 20th century", marked the 45th anniversary of the commissioning and power generation of its first unit on July 30, 2026.

Gazing at this towering dam, we can see that guided by the tenets of "Precision, Safety, Innovation, and Efficiency", it has left a string of solid footprints on its journey of progress and delivered outstanding performance worthy of the era.

Laying the Foundation: Self-Reliance Builds a National Hydropower Milestone

On December 26, 1970, Chairman Mao Zedong personally penned the important instruction: "I approve the construction of this dam." This outlined the blueprint for the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project. On December 30, the blast of commencement echoed at the mouth of the Xiling Gorge on the Yangtze River, marking the launch of a magnificent undertaking for the Chinese people to build dams and harness water on the main stream of the Yangtze River On July 30, 1981, the first unit of the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project was officially commissioned for power generation, shouldering the historic mission of "harnessing rivers to rejuvenate the nation and building dams for the people".

Born from the Chinese people's vision for the Three Gorges, the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project served as a site for construction practice, technical verification, as well as talent and technology reserve for the Three Gorges Project. It also stands as a national hydropower monument forged with the youth and wisdom of generations of builders.

As a landmark in China's hydropower construction history, the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project is the largest water control project of the 20th century independently designed, constructed, manufactured, installed, operated and managed by the Chinese people. It not only accumulated valuable experience for subsequent water control projects, but also boosted the innovative development of China's hydropower equipment manufacturing industry and advances in hydropower technology.

During construction, a host of innovative initiatives elevated China's hydropower technology to new heights. The project team pioneered the concept of "navigation in still water and sediment flushing in moving water". They adopted the "one body with two wings" planning layout for the first time. Moreover, they independently designed, manufactured and installed the world's largest axial-flow Kaplan turbine-generator units in dimensions. They built China's large single-stage ship lock with the highest water head in the 20th century. In addition, they commissioned China's first ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission project — the ±500 kV Gezhouba–Shanghai HVDC Transmission Project. These successive technological breakthroughs have ultimately become valuable assets fueling the vigorous development of China's hydropower sector.

Tempering the Craft: Perseverance Blazes a Path to Quality Excellence

The path to building a high-quality Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project has never been smooth. Drawing on technological innovation to consolidate its "hard power" and management innovation to boost its "soft power", the project team has ultimately turned former challenges into its standout strengths today.

In the early days of the Gezhouba Power Plant, the facility responsible for operation and maintenance, generating units were plagued by frequent faults such as vibration, overheating, and excessive runout, making "100 consecutive days of work safety" an insurmountable barrier. Confronted with such difficulties, staff of Gezhouba Power Plant resolved to tackle tough challenges. They spearheaded 22 major renovation projects and more than 200 targeted technical improvements, ultimately turning the tide on the passive state of work safety.

After restructuring, the management model of Gezhouba Power Plant underwent continuous upgrading. The plant fully rolled out the integrated management system for the three standards covering quality, environment, occupational health and safety and obtained relevant certification. Its comprehensive safety assessment system for hydropower stations, a first in China, enabled more refined and systematic safety management. Besides, the plant realized the transformation of operation and maintenance mode to "centralized monitoring and on-site distributed duty". It also introduced advanced concepts including intrinsic safety, lean production management and green power station, and established a sophisticated management platform. Today, the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project boasts more optimized resource allocation, refined safety control and efficient production processes. It has not only accomplished the transformation into a high-quality facility itself, but also delivers massive safe, reliable and high-quality power to China's power grid.

Empowering the Future: Digital Empowerment Drives Smart Upgrade of the Hydropower Complex

To address common challenges confronting traditional hydrocomplexes — aging equipment, inefficient operation and maintenance, and decision-making reliant on experience, Gezhouba Power Plant has continuously strengthened its core capabilities and key technological proficiency, systematically advancing the digital transformation of power station equipment and technologies.

In 2013, the 500 kV GIS switchyard of Gezhouba Dajiang Power Station was put into operation, making it the first commissioned 500 kV intelligent substation under Central China Grid. In 2021, the advanced holographic monitoring application system went into service, which created a unified platform integrating a hydropower complex data sharing center and decision support applications. In 2022, the retrofitting of the intelligent excitation system for Unit 2 was successfully completed, raising the intelligence level, safety and reliability of excitation systems for large and medium-sized hydro-generating units. In 2024, the smart security platform for the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project was officially launched, supporting comprehensive safety enhancement across the hydropower complex's land, water and air domains. In the same year, the "Intelligent Gantry Crane for Hydropower Stations" realized multiple functions including remote control, intelligent positioning and intelligent identification. In 2025, a test bench for generator de-excitation switch characteristics was successfully developed, markedly improving the accuracy and efficiency of switch testing. Appraised by the China Electricity Council, this achievement has reached an internationally leading level.

Meanwhile, a batch of intelligent equipment which include intelligent trash-cleaning robots, steel wire rope greasing robots, intelligent inspection robots, and oil-skimming unmanned surface vessels have been successively put into operation. These efforts further advance the in-depth transformation of smart operation and maintenance, building a solid technological barrier for the safe operation of the complex.

The Yangtze River flows endlessly, mirroring the perilous twists of the journey and the magnificent sweep of the waves. Honored as a National Industrial Heritage and a Patriotic Education Base for Central State-Owned Enterprises, the Gezhouba Hydrocomplex Project keeps innovating and growing through technological advancement, emerging as a well-deserved "Evergreen Symbol of the Era". As of July 30, 2026, the Gezhouba Power Plant has generated a total of over 680 TWh of electricity, equivalent to saving more than 200 million tons of standard coal and cutting over 500 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, injecting strong impetus into national economic and social development. Forging ahead with unremitting efforts, the plant will continue to write new legends along the banks of the Yangtze River.