Ultra-Deep Shafts of Zhejiang Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station Fully Penetrated, Intelligent Construction Sets New Record
China Three Gorges Corporation announced on the 2nd that with the assistance of the intelligent operation equipment "Tiangong Hao", the No. 2 shaft of Zhejiang Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station was successfully penetrated. So far, the two shafts arranged at the power station have been fully penetrated, with a excavation depth of 637 meters, setting a record in China's pumped storage industry. This marks a breakthrough in China's intelligent construction of ultra-deep shafts and demonstrates the leading level of China's pumped storage engineering technology.
According to China National Radio, Zhejiang Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station is a key energy project in the 14th Five-Year Plan of China, located in Songyang County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, and is a daily-regulated pure pumped storage power station. The power station is mainly composed of upper reservoir, lower reservoir, water conveyance system, underground powerhouse and ground switch station. Among them, the water diversion system adopts a primary shaft arrangement, and both No. 1 and No. 2 shafts have a depth of 637 meters, equivalent to vertically embedding two 200-story high-rises into the mountain, which is extremely difficult to construct.
The core support for the penetration of the shaft this time comes from the intelligent operation equipment "Tiangong Hao". This equipment adopts a unique conical cutterhead design, which can adapt to complex rock stratum conditions and effectively cope with technical challenges such as faults and water gushing during construction. At the same time, "Tiangong Hao" integrates multiple subsystems such as propulsion, support, water supply, electrical control and 5G communication network through a five-layer platform integrated layout, truly realizing the intelligent shaft forming mode of "unmanned underground and remote control on the ground", which greatly improves the construction safety and efficiency.
The 700-meter-level intelligent shaft hoisting system cooperating with "Tiangong Hao" is like an "intelligent elevator" going deep underground, with a maximum lifting height of 700 meters. It has the capacity of safe personnel transportation and 60-ton heavy object hoisting, successfully solving the industry problem of safe and efficient transportation of personnel and materials in ultra-deep shaft construction. According to CCTV News, this independently developed 700-meter-level intelligent shaft complete set of equipment can transmit underground data back to the command center in real time through 5G communication network and hundreds of sensors. The construction efficiency is nearly ten times higher than that of traditional methods, and it also set an industry record of the maximum monthly excavation footage of 278.28 meters.
At present, "Tiangong Hao" has successfully completed the shaft excavation task of Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station and will be transferred to other projects for continuous use in the future. This arrangement means that China's intelligent construction equipment for ultra-deep shafts has met the conditions for standardized and replicable engineering applications, which can provide mature and reliable technical support for the construction of subsequent similar ultra-deep shaft projects and further promote the intelligent upgrading of China's pumped storage industry.
Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station is designed to install 4 reversible hydro-turbine generator units with a single unit capacity of 350,000 kilowatts, and is planned to realize the grid connection of the first unit in the end of 2027. According to China Three Gorges Corporation, after the power station is fully completed, it will mainly undertake the tasks of peak shaving, valley filling, energy storage, frequency modulation and emergency backup for the East China Power Grid, which plays an important role in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the East China Power Grid and improving the consumption capacity of clean energy.
In the future, with the gradual completion and commissioning of Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station, it will further improve the energy structure in East China and help achieve the "dual carbon" goals. China Three Gorges Corporation will continue to deepen its involvement in the pumped storage field, promote the iterative upgrading of intelligent construction technology, accelerate the promotion and application of ultra-deep shaft construction equipment, let more intelligent equipment serve energy project construction, and inject new momentum into China's energy security.
At present, China's pumped storage industry is accelerating towards intelligence and scale. The full penetration of the ultra-deep shafts of Songyang Pumped Storage Power Station not only sets a new industry record, but also establishes China's leading position in the field of intelligent construction of ultra-deep shafts, providing a reference Chinese solution for the construction of global pumped storage projects.
