China's Three Gorges dam generates record power

BEIJING: The Three Gorges power plant, China's largest hydropower project, generated a record 98.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity in 2012, according to an official announcement here.

The power generation volume grew 25 per cent year-on-year and accounted for about 14 per cent of the country's total power generated by hydropower plants in the same year.

By the end of 2012, the plant had generated 629.1 billion kwh of electricity, equivalent to a reduction of nearly 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Three Gorges Project, launched in 1993 with a budget equivalent to USD 22.5 billion consists of a dam and a five-tier ship dock, in addition to the 32 generators.

The dam's first generator went into operation on July 10, 2003.

The last generator started operating last July, realising a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts.

The Three Gorges Project generates electricity, controls flooding by providing storage for water and adjusts shipping capacity on the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway.