Two generator units, No. 1 and No. 2, at the Dashixia Water Control Project in the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China, were connected to the power grid on Sept. 29 and started generating electricity, which the company said marked the project's official operation. The dam is a 247-meter-high concrete-faced sand-gravel structure, which China Energy Engineering Group, its investor and builder, describes as the highest of its kind among dams both completed and under construction.
Once finished, the project is to supply the electricity needs of roughly 600,000 households, send 3.42 billion cubic meters of ecological water a year to the Tarim River in Xinjiang, lift downstream flood control standards from once in 10 years to once in 50 years, and secure irrigation for more than 453,333 hectares of farmland, according to the release.
A three-episode documentary, Youth Pioneers of Dashixia Project, aired at the same time. It was jointly produced by Xinjiang Radio and Television Station and Xufang International Media, which sits under China International Communications Group. Framed through the eyes of Venezuelan vlogger Rafael Saavedra, it follows the post-90s and post-00s workers who make up the project's main force and who, since 2019, have lived in a remote canyon and worked through force-14 gales, extreme heat and bitter cold.
The first episode, Eight Years for One Dream, describes how young engineer Bai Lin and his team dealt with challenges that included concrete pouring on a 360-meter ultra-long slope. Bai spent eight years on the dam and is now a technical expert, the release said.
