On September 17, the water conveyance system project of the Pankou Pumped Storage Power Station, constructed by Sinohydro Bureau 15 Co., Ltd., reached a key milestone: the excavation of the surge shaft was successfully completed. The smooth achievement of this key milestone not only marks the full completion of excavation work for the project's water conveyance system, but also means the project has officially entered a new stage of concrete construction, pressing the "fast-forward button" for subsequent construction.

As one of the core structures of the water conveyance system of the Pankou Pumped Storage Power Station, the diversion surge shaft that broke through this time became a "hard nut to crack" in the project construction due to multiple technical difficulties. It not only features a novel and unique design structure, but also has prominent characteristics such as a large excavation cross-section, irregular geometric shape, and complex concrete structure. Its construction difficulty ranks among the highest in the industry, and it is also the largest cross-section engineering structure among the surge shaft projects under construction and completed by Sinohydro Bureau 15 Co., Ltd. since its establishment, placing extremely high demands on construction technology and management levels.

Since the start of excavation and support construction for the diversion surge shaft, the project department has faced multiple challenges head-on, taking technological innovation as the guide and refined management as the guarantee to solve construction difficulties one by one. In the face of complex working conditions such as large cross-section excavation and deep shaft operations, as well as safety risks brought by variable geological conditions, the project department took proactive measures: introducing advanced raise boring equipment and constructing a 2.5-meter-diameter muck drop shaft in advance to build an efficient channel for subsequent excavation operations and improve construction efficiency from the source; extensively inviting industry experts for technical consultation, actively drawing on advanced experience from similar projects at home and abroad, scientifically optimizing construction parameters in light of the project's actual conditions, and simultaneously carrying out reinforced concrete lining for the upper 15-meter half-shaft section in advance to build a solid "first line of defense" for construction safety; establishing a dynamic construction management mechanism to adjust excavation and support plans in real time according to surrounding rock categories, ensuring that each process precisely adapts to on-site conditions and guaranteeing orderly construction progress; strictly implementing the "self-inspection, mutual inspection, and specialized inspection" three-inspection system, strengthening process quality control, controlling project quality from details, and eliminating quality hazards; while tightly grasping progress and quality, fully implementing the requirements of the "six mechanisms" for work safety, further strengthening risk classification control and hidden danger investigation and governance, adding safety monitoring points for shaft wall surrounding rock, keeping real-time track of surrounding rock stability, ensuring that safety throughout the construction process remains under control, and achieving coordinated advancement of safety, progress, and quality.

It is reported that the Hubei Pankou Pumped Storage Power Station is a key implementation project of Hubei Province's "14th Five-Year Plan" for pumped storage development, and is also the first approved pumped storage power station project in Shiyan City, bearing the important mission of optimizing and upgrading the regional energy structure. After the project is completed and put into operation, it will significantly enhance the peak-shaving and valley-filling capacity of the Shiyan power grid, effectively increase the level of new energy consumption, and provide strong support for alleviating regional power supply-demand conflicts and ensuring the stable operation of the power system. In addition, the project will also help build a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system, accelerate the construction of Shiyan City's green and low-carbon development demonstration zone, and have important practical significance and long-term strategic value for promoting the green transformation of the regional economy and society and achieving the "dual carbon" goals.