Three Gorges Dam
The Chinese Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze is the world’s largest hydropower plant and dam. The construction began in 1994. Architectural terms, the construction was completed on 20 May 2006, but will not commence work until 2011.
The proponents point to a decreased risk of flooding, energy (hydro-electric power plant) and the improvement of IWT. Opponents point to a negative environmental impact, both upstream and downstream, and the negative socio-cultural impacts of the project.
The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, and with a length of 6380 km the longest river in China. It flows from the Tibetan highlands through the three gorges to the Yichang -plateau and on to Shanghai where it flows into the sea. The catchment area includes nearly 2 million km ². It is also one of the main waterways of China. The idea of a dam was first proposed in 1919 by Sun Yat-sen.
The project has 26 generators which were put into service on July 10, 2003 for the first time. The total capacity is 18 G W, and will be 85 terawatt hours (85 billion kWh ) per year, about 3% of total consumption in China in 2006. The dam itself is 185 meters high and 2.3 kilometers long. There is provision for a lock system with two-way 5 row locks for shipping. Smaller vessels will have a boat lift that will be the largest in the world.
The reservoir behind the dam in the Yangtze from the beginning of the flooding in June 2003 that eventually a large reservoir will occur. The dam is 630 km long and will receive a surface area of one thousand square kilometers. Read the rest of this entry »
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