Shanghai-based Voith Siemens Hydro has been awarded the 120-million-euro contract to provide the electro-mechanical equipment for the Jinping II hydropower station on the Yalong River, in China's Sichuan Province.

The supply contract valued at 1.2 billion yuan (US$ 158.7 million) is the company's largest-ever deal since its establishment in 1994, said a company statement.

The contract also marks the start of a hydropower development on the Yalong River, China's forth largest source of hydro power generation.

Located on the lower reaches of the river, the Jinping II plant will have the largest generating capacity of the five hydro stations on the river, with a designed capacity of 24.23 billion kilowatt-hours annually.

The plant would be equipped with eight turbines each with an installed capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, and the first unit is scheduled to be put into operation in 2012.

Jinping II hydro station is part of China's strategic plan to transmit energy resources from the west to the heavily industrialized east.

The completion of the power plant would help alleviate the power supply pressure in Sichuan and Chongqing, and half of the power output would be delivered to the east China region.

Voith Siemens, a group division of Voith, is one of the world's largest hydro power equipment manufacturers, and has provided equipment for more than 50 large-scale hydro power projects in China.

Founded in 1867, Vioth is one of Europe's largest family-owned companies with approximately 34,000 employees, a turnover of 3.7 billion euros annually and 250 locations worldwide.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29 2007)