Rangdu Power Plant

Rangdu Power Plant

Rangdu Power Plant is a cultural heritage site protected at the municipal level in Chongqing.

Hydropower has the advantages of high efficiency, low cost, environmental friendliness, and comprehensive utilization of water resources. In 1878, France built the world's first hydropower station. Ten years later, in 1888, Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Taiwan, planned to construct the Guishan Hydropower Station on the Xindian River, a tributary of the Tamsui River in Taiwan. It was completed and began generating electricity in 1905, with an installed capacity of 500 kilowatts. This was China's earliest hydropower station. The first hydropower station on the Chinese mainland was the Shilongba Hydropower Station, built in 1912 in the Dianchi Lake area of Yunnan.

Sichuan is one of China’s provinces rich in hydropower resources and an early developer of such energy. The region has many rivers, and hydropower construction initially began on small tributaries of the Yangtze River. The Luzhou Dongwo Hydropower Station, completed and operational in 1925, was the first hydropower station in Sichuan designed and built locally.

The Rangdu River is a small tributary on the northern bank of the Yangtze River within Wanzhou District. It originates from the southern foothills of Tiefeng Mountain and joins the Yangtze River about 30 kilometers south of Wanzhou City, stretching 37 kilometers in length. Wanzhou was an important town in eastern Sichuan, located along the Yangtze River and serving as a distribution hub for mountain products such as leather, tung oil, and medicinal herbs. These goods were often transported downstream via waterways, contributing to the area’s bustling commerce. In 1931, a thermal power plant was established here, initially with an installed capacity of 100 kilowatts, which was later increased to 180 kilowatts to supply electricity to the urban area.

On July 7, 1937, Japanese imperialism orchestrated the “Marco Polo Bridge Incident,” launching a full-scale invasion of China. The Nationalist Government retreated to Chongqing, making the southwest and northwest regions the wartime rear areas. To consolidate these rear bases, the National Resources Commission made great efforts to develop hydropower resources in mountainous regions. At that time, many factories relocated inland along the Yangtze River to Wanzhou, creating significant pressure on the local power supply. Wanzhou had limited coal resources, making the construction of thermal power plants difficult, but it possessed abundant hydropower resources suitable for development. As a result, it was decided to harness local hydropower by building a hydropower station. Huang Yuxian, a returned scholar and hydraulic engineering expert who had studied in the United States, surveyed the Modaoxi and Rangdu rivers within Wanzhou. Due to the large engineering scope, long transmission distances, and the need to cross the Yangtze River for Modaoxi, it was ultimately decided to develop the Rangdu River first.

In 1940, the Rangdu River Hydropower Project Office was approved and established by the Resources Commission. Rangdu Power Plant was designed and constructed under the leadership of Mr. Zhang Guangdou, a renowned Chinese hydraulic engineering expert. Zhang Guangdou, an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was born in 1912 in Changshu, Jiangsu. He graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1934. In 1935, he went to the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering. In the same year, he transferred to the College of Engineering at Harvard University, earning another master’s degree in civil engineering. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he abandoned his studies and returned to China, serving as the head of the Design Division at the Longxi River Hydropower Project Office under the Resources Commission, while also acting as the head of the Rangdu River Hydropower Project Office. In Sichuan, he was responsible for designing small hydropower stations such as Xiaqingyuandong, Taohuaxi, Xiannvdong, and Jingyukou. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he oversaw the design of major hydropower projects such as the Miyun Reservoir and participated in the planning and design of major water conservancy projects on the Yellow River and Yangtze River, including the Gezhouba Dam, Danjiangkou Dam, Sanmenxia Dam, Xiaolangdi Dam, Xiluodu Hydropower Station, Liujiaxia Hydropower Station, and the Three Gorges Project. He was long engaged in teaching and research in hydraulic and hydroelectric engineering. In 1996, Zhang Guangdou was awarded the First China Engineering Technology Award and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Progress Award.

Rangdu Power Plant, commonly known as Xiannvdong Hydropower Plant, was completed in 1944. It is located 5 kilometers west of Rangdu Town, Wanzhou District, Chongqing. The total investment for this hydropower project was 900,000 silver dollars and 20,000 US dollars. The project consists of three main parts: 1) The powerhouse, a stone-and-timber structure measuring 24 meters in length, 9.5 meters in width, and 9 meters in height, featuring Western architectural style; 2) The water diversion channel, extending over 1,500 meters, including a 180-meter elevated section inscribed with the characters “Feihong” (Flying Rainbow) by Yang Sen, a warlord of Sichuan. The stone channel is 2.2 meters wide at the base and 3.4 meters wide at the top, with a 20-meter-high rock-drilled water intake shaft; 3) The river-blocking gravity dam, a stone structure 130 meters long with a maximum height of 5.5 meters and a base elevation of 399 meters above sea level. This plant represents the earliest water conservancy and hydropower project in the Three Gorges region, holding significant historical and scientific research value. Currently under the administration of Chongqing Three Gorges Water Conservancy and Electric Power (Group) Co., Ltd., its installed capacity has grown from the initial 656 kilowatts to the present 1,480 kilowatts. Over more than 70 years, it has made positive contributions to the economic and social development of Wanzhou.

In December 2009, the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government designated Rangdu Power Plant as a municipal-level cultural heritage site. On October 7, 2019, Rangdu Power Plant was included in the eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level