At the world's largest hydropower plant, China's Three Gorges
Project, fourteen generating units have passed a 72-hour full
operating capacity test, an official in charge of the project said
on Sunday.
Over a period of three days ending 9:00 AM Sunday the 14 units
generated 700,000 kwh of electricity without displaying any
problems, said Li Yong'an, general manager of the China Three
Gorges Project Corporation.
Li said generator performance can only be tested thoroughly by
putting them through a 72-hour full capacity test.
This is the first time China has independently operated such a
big group of generating units. There are only 37 such units with a
capacity of 700,000 kw in the entire world.
The water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir began to rise from
the 135.5 meter mark on September 20 and reached the 156 meters on
Friday. According to the original design a water level of 148
meters is required for full generation capacity.
The 14 generating units underwent a one-day full generation
capacity test on October 18.
Since being commissioned in 2003 the units had been generating
550,000 kwh of electricity from the lower water level in the Three
Gorges Reservoir, Li said, adding the successful test showed the
generating units had coped well with the rising water level.
More than 1.2 million people, over 85 percent of those covered
by the original plan, have been relocated to make way for the
gigantic project and the remainder will be resettled before the
water level in the reservoir reaches 175 meters in 2008. This is
one year ahead of schedule.
Launched in 1993 and being built at an estimated cost of 180
billion yuan (about US$22.5 billion) the Three Gorges Project on
the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway,
will eventually have 26 generators with a combined generating
capacity of 18.2 million kw and be able to generate 84.7 billion
kwh of electricity annually. The remaining 12 generating units are
under construction.
As of Sunday the Three Gorges Project had generated over 138
billion kwh of electricity.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2006)