Unit 11 of China's Baihetan Hydropower Station commenced commercial operations on Wednesday after completing a 72-hour trial run, according to the China Three Gorges Corporation, the project's builder.

It is the 14th 100-million-kilowatt unit to go into operation at the station.

The unit's maximum load reached 110 million kW during the trial run, surpassing its designed capacity, according to Kang Yonglin, deputy head of construction works at the station.

The 16-unit station, still under construction on the Jinsha River in southwest China, has already generated over 48 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity.

Once fully operational, the station will become the world's second-largest station of its kind after the Three Gorges Dam and will generate electricity sufficient for 75 million people, reducing power shortages in energy-hungry eastern China.

Its clean energy output will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 51.6 million tonnes every year.