China powers up
China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project, is ahead of schedule.
The world’s largest hydroelectricity project, the Three Gorges Dam in China, is ahead of schedule. The last of the 14 power generators on the dam’s left bank, each with a capacity of 700 megawatts (MW), began commercial operation in the middle of September, a year earlier than planned. Work on 12 generators on the right bank is expected to begin soon.
Since starting up in 2003, the dam has generated more than 80 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. By 2009, China Three Gorges Project Corp., the company responsible for the dam’s construction, hopes to produce 22,400 MW, about 20% more than originally thought. It claims that the dam has already eased energy problems in eastern and central China.
For information on the Three Gorges Project, see www.bsos.umd.edu/mwr/tgp.
