The Longyangxia Hydropower Station is located 1,684 km from the source of the Yellow River and 3,376 km away from the estuary of the Yellow River. As a hydropower station with the highest altitude in China, it is the first one of the large-scale cascade of hydropower stations in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

　　The Longyangxia Hydropower Station 

The construction of the Station commenced in 1976, and its four power units were successively commissioned from December 1987 to June 1989. With a dam height of 178 m, a width of 15 m and a crest length of 1,140 m, the Station boasts of a total installed capacity of 1.28 million kW and an average annual power output of 6 billion kW·h. Up to now, it is still the main power plant of the northwest power grid of China, performing the functions of frequency modulation and peak shaving. 

　　The Longyangxia Reservoir

The Station “cuts off” the surging Yellow River, thus forming the artificial Longyangxia Reservoir with a total storage capacity of 24.7 billion m3, the largest in the Yellow River basin. Aside from power generation, the Station also brings about comprehensive benefits such as flood control, irrigation, ice jam prevention, tourism, etc. It has made great contributions to the ecological security of estuarine wetlands and supported the sustainable economic and social development of the entire Yellow River Basin.