POWER December 2012 - 40

TOP PLANTS
Three Gorges Dam, Yangtze River,
Hubei Province, China
Owner/operator: China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd.
After nine years of construction, installation, and testing, the Three Gorges Dam
is now complete. On May 23, 2012, the last main generator finished its final test,
increasing the facility's capacity to 22.5 GW and making it the world's largest capacity
hydroelectric power plant.
By Angela Neville, JD
Courtesy: Le Grand Portage
I
t's fitting that the Three Gorges Dam
(TGD) achieved full commercial operation
in 2012, the Year of the Dragon,
based on the Chinese zodiac. The dragon sign
represents accelerated risk-taking and breaking
through outmoded paradigms. Through
hard work and tenacity, the pioneering TGD
developers and their staff overcame many
obstacles to create an immense hydroelectric
facility. Since the TGD was started almost a
decade ago, it has set several world records in
hydropower construction and achieved a series
of technology breakthroughs, thanks to
continuous scientific and technical advances.
Located in the Xilingxia Gorge area, one
of the three gorges of the Yangtze River, the
dam controls a drainage area of 1 million
square kilometers (km2), with an average annual
runoff of 451 billion cubic meters (m3).
The TGD is made of 14.86 million m3 of
concrete, is the biggest structure of its type in
the world, and is visible to astronauts in the
International Space Station.
The Project's Construction History
As the legal entity in charge of the TGD,
38
the China Three Gorges Corp. (CTGC) has
had full responsibility for the TGD's financing,
construction, and operation, according
to CTGC sources. The CTGC was set up
as a state-authorized investment institution,
which was allowed to use Chinese state
funding for the project. In September 2002,
the CTGC established the subsidiary China
Yangtze Power Co., Ltd. (CYPC), which
was assigned to manage both the TGD and
the Gezhouba hydropower plants. The $30
billion cost of the TGD project will be repaid
by revenues received from the sale of
electricity.
On Dec. 14, 1994, TGD construction
formally started. On Nov. 8, 1997, the river
closure was completed as part of Phase 1.
In 1998, Phase II construction of the TGD
went in full swing, and six years later, on
June 1, 2003, the TGD's reservoir started
storing water. Next, on June 16, 2003, the
TGD's double-lane five-step shiplock was
put into service. Then on July 10, 2003, the
first 700-MW generator was connected to
the grid and began to generate electricity.
The last unit entered service in May 2011.
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Facility Highlights
Now fully operational, the TGD has a total of
34 generators: 32 main generators, each with
a capacity of 700 MW, and two plant power
generators, each with capacity of 50 MW, for
a total capacity of 22.5 GW. Of those 32 main
generators, 14 are installed in the north side
of the dam, 12 in the south side, and the remaining
six in the underground power plant
in a mountain south of the dam.
The first units were manufactured through
two joint ventures (JVs) followed by units
manufactured by Chinese companies based
on extensive technology transfer requirements.
The first JV consists of Alstom, ABB
Group, Kvaerner (which supplied eight
units), and the Chinese company Harbin
Electric Machinery Co. Ltd. (HEC). The
other JV includes Voith, General Electric,
and Siemens (abbreviated as VGS and which
supplied six units) plus the Chinese company
Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co. Ltd. The
technology transfer agreements were signed
together with the equipment supply contracts.
For example, as part of their agreement,
HEC produced 14 units in all (eight
POWER | December 2012
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POWER December 2012

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