Abstract There are abundant water resources in Tibet plateau area. With the increasing demand for electric power, it is necessary to build hydropower stations and test bench in Tibet Plateau area. The low air pressure has an influence on the flow in the hydraulic turbine. Therefore, a hydraulic turbine test bench is designed and built in the Tibet Plateau for low pressure hydraulic turbine experiment. The laboratory building is a three-storey structure with one distribution room and two control rooms. The civil structure is designed according to the layout of two test bench. The built underground storage tank has an area of 300 m², a 15-meter high water tower and a capacity of 50 m³, which can meet the requirements of simultaneous operation of the two test bench The maximum head of the main pump is 30 meters, the rated power of the main motor is 160 kW, and the rated power of the dynamometer is 110 kW, which can be operated in both positive and negative directions. Meanwhile, a set of measurement and control system software is designed to acquire experimental data. The test bench will meet the needs of experimental teaching and scientific research of hydraulic turbines in Plateau area, and meet the performance comparison and acceptance test of medium and small hydro-machinery.