Dongjiang Project and Development of Lei River

Lei River in the south of Hunan Province is a tributary of Xiang River, flowing northward to the Yangtze River. Dongjiang has been selected as the key project to be constructed for hydropower development of Lei River. The project, located 45 km northeast of Chenzhou, is the largest one among the thirteen cascade stations on Lei River. It controls a drainage area of 4719 km**2 with a mean flow of 144 m**3/s, about 48% of the runoff of Lei River. The purpose of the project is mainly for power generation and also flood control. The project, with a total installed capacity of 500 MW, consists of a double curvature arch dam 157 m in height, a surface power house downstream the toe of the dam, ski-jump spillways on both banks, one tunnel for flood discharge and one tunnel for reservoir release. Since the river is not navigable in the upper reaches, no navigation facilities is to be provided.