China began operating its largest hydropower station Monday on the Yellow River after eight years' construction, as the first two units of the Laxiwa Hydropower Station successfully connected to grid and generated electricity.

Photo taken on March 1, 2009 shows the Laxiwa Hydropower Station, China's largest hydropower station.

The station, located in northwestern Qinghai Province and the upper reaches of the river, has the largest installed capacity, tallest dam and highest outgoing voltage of all hydropower stations on the main stream of the Yellow River, China's second longest.

The Laxiwa Hydropower Station will be a major source of power for the development of China's west as well as the national West-East transmission project with a total installed capacity of 4.2 gigawatts and a 250 meter-high arch dam, according to station employees.

The other four generators of Laxiwa will start running before the end of 2010, they said.

By then, the total installed capacity of all the hydropower stations on the upper stream of the Yellow River will exceed 10 gw, as several other major hydropower projects will have also been completed and gone onstream.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2009)