Abstract:

 Installed capacity is an important indicator of a hydropower station, its scale directly related to the energy efficiency, efficiency of water resources use, and rational utilization of equipments and investment etc. The factors of installed capacity are not the same for hydropower stations of different regulation performances. This paper divides hydropower stations into two types, good regulation performance and limited regulation performance. A general procedure and the existing issues in the practical work of making choices for the stations of different performances are discussed, proceeding from the factors influencing the choices of installed capacity. Through the analysis of examples, confirmed the correctness of the factors in this paper, which provided a reference for the choices of installed capacity. Last, this paper suggests that it is necessary to expand the installed capacity of the existing hydropower stations timely but this should depend on the timing.