The plant will form part of a power generation base with the nearby 12.6GW Xiluodu power station on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river, upstream of the Three Gorges project.
The 28.9B yuan (US$3.7B) project is due to be completed by 2015.
Xiangjiaba project underway in China
Construction has commenced on the 6GW Xiangjiaba hydroelectric project in southwestern China.
