The advent of the Three Gorges Project has significantly
improved the cargo delivery capacity of the Yangtze River as 50
million tons were registered in 2006, said Wang Xiaofeng, director
of the office of the Three Gorges Project Committee of the State
Council, on Tuesday.
The dam reached its maximum 185 meter height last year when the
water level was raised to 156 meters. The 19 power generating
units, each with a capacity of 700,000 kilowatts, have now been put
into operation to make a total installed capacity of 13.3 million
kw.
So far, the units have generated more than 200 billion kw of
electricity, said Wang in Beijing, adding this had helped guarantee
power supply in southern, eastern and central China.
Aside from improving shipping conditions and ensuring power
supply, the project had also played an important role in flood
controls on the Yangtze and in protecting the area's ecological
environment, Wang said.
"We are going to be able to weather the worst flooding in 1,000
years."
Upon completion, the total project will comprise the dam, a
five-tier ship lock and a 660-kilometer-long reservoir.
"The Three Gorges project has become a brand both at home and
abroad," said Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Yangtze
River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation. "Several
countries are now seeking cooperation with us."
"We are investigating the feasibility of those proposed projects
and will finally reach a scientific conclusion," he said without
elaborating.
At Tuesday's press conference, Three Gorges officials said the
government had fully acknowledged the disadvantages of the massive
dam project long before its construction started in the early 1990s
and would continue to devote resources to overcoming such
disadvantages.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2007)
