This open access book highlights the hydropower potential of the Dadu River watershed in Sichuan province, Southwest China, and an important part of the flood control system for the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. Ensuring the safe, scientific, and economical operation of hydropower stations is the basis for sustainable development for hydropower enterprises and is the foremost task during the process of running and managing hydropower enterprises. Because of the special natural, geographical, and cultural environment in the Dadu River watershed, the operation and management of hydropower enterprises face numerous challenges due to complex hydrometeorology, frequent earthquakes and geological hazards, fragile ecological environment, and difficult conditions for production.
In order to effectively resolve the many challenges on the Dadu River in terms of reservoir group operational control, power station group power dispatch, operation and inspection of equipment for the whole watershed, operation of multiple power station hydraulic structures, and watershed enterprise management, the multiple power stations in the Dadu River watershed adhere to the concept of innovative development and actively embrace advanced technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence. In 2014, the Dadu River Company was the first in the corporate world to put forward the dream and approach for the construction of the intelligent enterprise, while boldly carrying out exploration and practice in intelligent operations and management in the Dadu River watershed.