Three Gorges turbogenerators operating at full capacity

All 14 gigantic turbo-generators of the Three Gorges Project began operating at full capacity at 8:44 a.m. on Wednesday.

Each generator is now able to churn out daily revenue of 4.2 million yuan (about 525,000 U.S.dollars), according to Ma Zhenbo, chief of the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant.

The units had been generating 550,000 kw/hour of electricity since being commissioned in July 2003. But the figure has now been bumped up to 700,000 kw/hour, enough for a city with a population of one million.

The water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir began to rise on Sept. 20. It nudged 153.79 meters on Wednesday and is expected to reach the 156 meter mark on Saturday.

According to the original design, a water level of 148 meters is required for full generation capacity.

Ma said Wednesday marked a milestone in the history of hydropower development in China.

About 1.16 million people have been relocated since construction of the project began in 1993. The dam is 2,309 meters wide and 185 meters high. Twenty-six 700,000 kw power generators line the two banks of the river, and there is a five-tier, dual-track ship lock.

When completed in 2009, the reservoir of the 203.9 billion yuan project (25.5 billion U.S. dollars) will have a capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters and 84.7 billion kw/h of electricity will be produced annually.

Workers have completed the dam, the 14 generating units on the northern bank and most of the ship lock system, which is in service.

Construction of the 12 generating units on the southern bank of the Yangtze is underway.

Traffic in the dam area has been restricted to one direction, alternating every 24 hours, since Sept. 15 when work began on a year-long project to raise the beds of the two topmost tiers of the ship lock from 131 to 139 meters. This will ensure safe navigation when the dam water level rises to 156 and finally to 175 meters.

By Wednesday, the plant had produced 135.6 billion kw/hour of electricity, earning more than 25 billion yuan (3.13 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue.

Source: Xinhua