China's Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station in the eastern Zhejiang Province was successfully connected to the national grid and began generating electricity on Thursday, marking another breakthrough in the country's development of large-scale hydropower equipment and engineering capabilities.
With the total investment exceeding 10 billion yuan (about 1.42 billion U.S. dollars), the pumped storage hydropower station comprises of four generating units of 425,000 kilowatts each, giving a total installed capacity of 1.7 million kilowatts.
The power station's first generating unit, the largest in China in terms of single-unit capacity, was officially connected to the grid and came into operation.
In the future, the station will play a key role in peak shaving, valley filling, frequency and voltage regulation, energy storage and emergency backup for the provincial power grid, providing strong support for enhancing the flexibility of dispatching and ensuring the stable operation of the eastern China region's power system.
"The Zhejiang Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station is the largest pumped storage power station in China that started construction and achieved power generation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). During its construction, multiple technological breakthroughs were made in areas such as ultra-high-head large-capacity units, advanced materials and smart construction. Once fully operational, the station is expected to generate approximately 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, which are sufficient to meet the yearly residential electricity consumption of a city with 1.6 million people," said Jing Maogui, general manager of Zhejiang Tiantai Pumped Storage Company of China Three Gorges Corporation.
Major pumped-storage hydropower station begins power generation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he had a phone conversation with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to discuss the end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
In a video statement posted to social media platform X, Zelensky said both sides have "good ideas for lasting peace". He stressed that Ukraine is working around the clock to bring closer the end to the conflict and to ensure that all documents and steps are "realistic, effective, and reliable."
The two sides discussed certain substantive details of the ongoing work, the Ukrainian president said, adding that they have "good ideas that can work toward a shared outcome and the lasting peace."
He expressed the hope that the understandings and the ideas discussed between the two sides can be useful.
Zelensky added that Rustem Umerov, head of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation and secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, held follow-up communication with Witkoff and Kushner later during the day.
The latest development came after Zelensky has recently unveiled a 20-point draft peace plan, which was agreed on by U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators and is being reviewed by Russia.
On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is analyzing the peace proposal on Ukraine submitted by Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, following his recent meeting with U.S. officials.
"We are analyzing these materials, and subsequently, in accordance with the decision made by the Head of State, we will continue consultations with the U.S. side," Peskov said.
Earlier, Peskov said Dmitriev had briefed President Vladimir Putin on the outcomes of his trip to Miami.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told at a press briefing on Thursday that negotiations with the United States are progressing "slowly but steadily."
She said that Russia is "ready to continue working within the framework defined at the highest level in Anchorage," referring to summit between President Putin and President Donald Trump in Alaska this August.
Zakharova also accused Western European states of "torpedoing" the diplomatic progress.
She also added that Russia is ready to formally state in a written document that it has no intention to attack NATO or EU countries.
Also on Thursday, Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, said his company had received information concerning the United States' willingness to cooperate with Russia on the issue of electricity supply from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
He said that some of the electricity from the Zaporizhzhia plant may be transmitted to Ukraine in the future, but the specific volume needs to be determined through negotiations.
Zelensky holds phone conversation with U.S. envoys as Russia analyzes peace proposal
