XINING -- The first unit of the Maerdang Hydropower Station, the highest-altitude facility of its kind on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, was connected to the grid in Qinghai Province, northwest China, on Monday.

Located at an average altitude of 3,300 meters in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, the station has a total installed capacity of 2.32 million kilowatts and is a major power provider in the "west-to-east power transmission" project.

With all units put into use in December, the Maerdang Hydropower Station is expected to generate an average of 7.3 billion kWh of electricity per year.

The building of the station marks a milestone in Qinghai Province's new energy development and will facilitate the establishment of more clean energy bases in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.