The first generator unit in the Wudongde Hydropower Station, Jinshajiang River was put into operation on June 29. Xi Jinping, also the general secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, congratulated the success and delivered sincere greetings to all those who participated in the construction of the power station. TISCO engineers and technicians, who contributed their wisdom and effort in the development and production of the high-end steel material for the power station, were also inspired by the good news.
The Wudongde Station, developed and constructed by China Gorges Corporation, is the first of the four cascades along the downstream of Jinshajiang River. It is the third biggest hydropower station following the Three Gorges and Xiluodu, with a total installed power of 10.2 million kW and annual capacity of 38.91 billion kWh. It ranks the seventh in scale among all the hydropower stations constructed and under construction globally, with the worldwide biggest single unit power of 850,000 kW.
There would never be a powerful Chinese manufacturing industry if the country hadn’t mastered technologies of key material. The magnificent 850,000kW unit requires extreme key material for magnetic yokes and magnetic poles. For instance, the yield strength of steel for magnetic yokes is specified as 750Mpa. TISCO started the development of high-strength steel for magnetic yokes in 2013, when China sped up the construction of big and high-end hydropower stations. The company organized technology and production forces to conduct deep analysis and repeated tests aiming at improve strength, magnetism, inner-stress, dimension accuracy and other key parameters that were critical to the performance of the material and requirements of laser cutting process, until they mastered the know-how of the material production. In 2014, the company produced the first internationally advanced sheet of 750MPa high-strength steel for magnetic yoke and got certified by the China Iron and Steel Industry Association in July of the same year. In September of 2016, with the product being approved by SGS and GE, TISCO became the first producer in the world who obtained the international certification for 750MPa high-strength magnetic yoke steel. During the trial production of material for Dongwude Hydropower Station project, TISCO stood out among other competitors with the remarkable flatness of 1mm/m and firstly met the specification of GE, the manufacturer of equipment for the Dongwude project.
By present, TISCO has delivered about 4,000 tons of steel to Dongwude, making itself a VIP supplier to the project. Besides, cooperation intention between TISCO and GE in U.S.A has been reached for the development of 800MPa high strength material, which is to be applicable for hydropower units with higher power and bigger scale.
TISCO personnel in charge states that, this delivery not only presents the company’s great ability in innovation, but also brings substantial promotion to the company’s internal procedures in product research, production and quality control. The company will always keep in mind the expectations and encouragement from the general secretary Xi, who, in his inspection journey to Shanxi province, inspired TISCO workers to make persistent efforts to scale new heights, shoulder the mission of forging the pillars for a great power, and contribute more to the upgrade of Chinese manufacturing industry.