Construction of Kela photovoltaic power station, which is a part of a hydro-solar hybrid power station with the world's highest installed capacity was due to begin on Friday in southwest China.

Kela photovoltaic power station in Yajiang County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Garze, Sichuan Province, has an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts and will connect eventually to the Lianghekou hydropower plant, which was put into operation in March with a total installed capacity of 3 million kilowatts, making it the largest hydro-solar hybrid power station in the world.

With a reliance on sunlight to generate electricity, the power generation of photovoltaic power stations fluctuates between day and night and with weather events. The hydropower component helps to regulate any instability in the photovoltaic power supply to provide stable and high-quality clean electricity for the power grid.

The station will cover an area of about 16 square kilometers, equivalent to 80 Beijing's "Bird's Nest" National Stadiums, and is expected to be put into operation next year.

"The power station will generate 2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually, equivalent to over 600,000 tonnes of standard coal, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1.6 million tonnes," said Qi Ningchun, chairman of the Yalong River Hydropower Development Co. Ltd. 

The highest capacity hydro-solar power station currently in operation is the Longyangxia hydro-solar power station, which was certified by the Guinness World Records on June 26. Located in northwest Qinghai Province, China, it has a total capacity of 2.13 million kilowatts, with 850,000 kilowatts of solar power and 1.28 million kilowatts of hydropower.