Xiaolangdi Hydro Project, a large modern water conservancy project, is located on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, 40km north of the ancient city of Luoyang in central Chinas Henan Province. As a key Chinese national project, Xiaolangdi Hydro Project is the largest of its kind on the Yellow River and second only to the Three Gorges project on the Yangtze River. It consists of a 1617m-long, 154m-high dam, silt-discharge channels and underground generating units. Preparatory work began in 1991. Main orders were placed in September 1994. One of the landmark events of the project involved diverting the Yellow River. This took place on 28 0ctober 1997 and became a national occasion. The dam received state approval and started storing water in October 1999.It was connected to the grid in January in 2000 and the whole projed was completed in 2001.

Xiaolangdi Project, designed to trap and flush sediments on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, could cope during the summer flood season. Xiaolangdi Hydro Project has been subjected to devastating Yellow River floods and has played an irreplaceable role in the agricultural area alongside.In addition, the l,836mw Xiaolangdi Project is generating 5. 1 billion kwh of electricity a year.Xiaolangdi is a multi-purpose project for dredging, flood control, ice control, industrial and municipal water supply and hydroelectric power.It is the key project of Yellow River Projects, considered as one of the most complicated and challenging hydroelectric projects in the world.