China Starts Up World’s Second-Biggest Hydropower Project

The last in a series of Chinese mega-dams started operations on Monday, capping off more than two decades of sometimes controversial clean energy development.

The 16-gigawatt Baihetan dam commissioned its first batch of units safely and on schedule, Xinhua reported, citing a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping. China Three Gorges Corp. built the dam on the Jinsha River, and it was scheduled to start by July.

The dam is the world’s second-largest hydropower plant, trailing only the 22.5-gigawatt Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River in terms of capacity. Baihetan is expected to reach full capacity in July ...