Baosteel's 1000MPa High-Strength Hydropower Steel Achieves Demonstration Application in China's First Steel Bifurcation Pipe

On April 27, the 1000MPa high-strength steel plate developed and produced by Baosteel's Heavy Plate Business Unit was successfully applied to China's first 1000MPa high-strength steel diversion bifurcation pipe. It smoothly passed the owner's acceptance test on-site at the Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station in Zhejiang.

The Zhejiang Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station is a key implementation project of China's 14th Five-Year Plan and a major construction project planned by Zhejiang Province during this period. It has the largest single-unit capacity among domestic pumped storage power stations. The station's rated water head of 724 meters is the highest in the world, and the single-stage diversion inclined shaft length of 483 meters is the longest in the country, setting multiple world and domestic engineering records.

In the Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station project, Baosteel's 1000MPa high-strength steel was used for the first time to manufacture the diversion steel bifurcation pipe, filling a domestic gap. This achieved the first demonstration application of 1000MPa hydropower steel, becoming a model for future large-scale domestic hydropower projects, high-head pumped storage stations, and key core pressure-bearing components of impact generators to be fully domestically produced.

To meet the forming, welding, and other manufacturing processes, as well as hydrostatic testing requirements of core pressure-bearing components in hydropower structures, the 1000MPa high-strength steel plate was developed using an alloy system with low welding crack sensitivity and microstructure design technology. Through rolling and heat treatment processes, the steel plate achieved a match of strength and toughness while possessing excellent weldability, formability, and sufficient pressure-bearing capacity. During two 9.5 MPa hydrostatic tests, the testing team monitored the entire process. The tests proceeded smoothly and orderly, and the results met design requirements, fully verifying the design rationality, process reliability, and structural stability of the steel bifurcation pipe. The owner highly praised the successful acceptance and delivery, laying a solid foundation for the first unit of the Zhejiang Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station to be put into operation and generate power by the end of 2025.