China-based Yalong River Hydropower Development (Yalong Hydro) has begun constructing the Kela Solar Power Plant, expected to be the world’s largest combined hydropower and solar power plant, according to Yicai Global.
The station is near the new Lianghekou hydropower project on the Yalong River. It will be built in Sichuan province. The project’s cost is estimated at 5.3 billion yuan ($791 million).
The Lianghekou project was completed and launched in March, with a total capacity of 3,000 megawatts.
The above two projects are the first phase of a future renewable energy base in the Yalong River Basin.
The full scale should exceed 80 million kilowatts, including about 30 million kilowatts of hydropower, more than 40 million kilowatts of wind and photovoltaic power, and more than 10 million kilowatts of pumped storage.
Yalong Hydro is building both projects. The establishment is a joint venture between State Development and Investment and the Sichuan Provincial Investment Group.
The state investment unit owns 52% of the joint venture shares, and a local company owns the rest.