The first power generator on the southern bank of China's Three
Gorges Project is expected to be linked to the grid and begin
operating this month.
Installation of the No.22 unit began in June last year, and
workers were fitting the rotor, said Zhang Chengping, deputy chief
of machinery and electronic engineering of the China Three Gorges
Project Corporation.
The project, the world's largest water control facility, is
located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, China's longest
river, with a 185-meter-high dam, completed in June last year, and
a five-tier ship lock.
It will have 14 turbo-generators on the north bank and 12 on the
south, producing 84.7 billion kwh of power a year after its
scheduled completion in 2009 -- enough to light up Shanghai on a
peak day with power to spare.
The 2.3-kilometer-long dam will help control annual floods that
devastate the country's densely populated farming heartland.
The 14 turbines on the north bank are operating at full
capacity.
The project has generated more than 150 billion kilowatt-hours
of electricity since it began operating in 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2007)