CCS Hydropower Project is located on the Coca River, a secondary tributary of the Amazon River in South America, 130 km away from the capital Quito, Ecuador. The Project is located in the tropical rainforest and earthquake-prone area, adjacent to the active volcano, and the natural conditions are complicated.

The Project is a run-of-river and diversion-type hydropower station, equipped with 8 Pelton turbine-generator units, with a total installed capacity of 1,500 MW, the largest head of 618m, and annual power generation of 8.8 billion kWh, which make it one of the largest Pelton hydropower stations in the world. The main structures include intake complex, headrace tunnel, compensating reservoir, penstocks and underground powerhouse.

Settling tank, as part of the intake complex, is composed of 8 chambers with a total length of 264.5 m, and is the largest sediment tank in the world. The Sedicon system is successfully applied for the first time in a large hydropower project, combining the ecological waterway with the sediment flushing system.

The deep-buried headrace tunnel is 24.8 km long with an inner diameter of 8.20 m, constructed with two double-shield TBMs.

The underground powerhouse has a large burial depth, maximum about 600 m, and the tunnels and caverns are in large scale and densely arranged, which increases the difficulty of design and construction. As the downstream water level is too high, special requirements are put forward for the operation of units, including the normal operation and condensing operation. The main transformer and GIS equipment of the power station are arranged in underground caverns with two 500 kV outlet lines.

The presidents of PR. China and Ecuador attended the ceremony for celebrating the power generation of the Project in Quito on Nov 18, 2016. CCS Hydropower Project has been in smooth operation, which has provided electricity for one-third of the country’s population, and will improve Ecuador’s energy structure and greatly boost the local economy.