The runner is part of a contract awarded to alstom in 2008 by China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC) for the supply of four Francis turbine and generator units to the Xiangjiaba dam. With an output of 812 MW per unit, the Xiangjiaba hydropower project has the largest single unit output of any power plant under construction today.
The contract also includes training, supervision of installation and commissioning Final welding and machining of the runner was carried out at the Three Gorges Site workshop of Tianjin alstom-hydro Co. Ltd. (TAH) in Yichang, Hubei Province, 1200 km away.
Xiangjiaba is China's third-largest dam after the Three Gorges and Xiluodu dams, also operated by CTGPC. It is the fifth largest dam in the world.
