Three Gorges Dam delivers huge socioeconomic and ecological benefits in 2018
Date: 2019-02-28
The Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower station, has delivered massive socioeconomic and ecological benefits during the past year, as it has generated record amount of electricity, handled a record throughput, mitigated flooding and carried out two successful rounds of eco-scheduling experiments.
Flood prevention is the top priority for the Three Gorges project. A total of 16 rivers in the Yangtze River basin saw floods above their alert level since late June in 2018 due to the heavy rainfall in the region. The peak inflow of the Three Gorges Dam hit 53,000 m3/s at 2p.m. on July 5, making it the first flood of Yangtze River in 2018. Although it fell short of the historical record, it might have put enormous pressure on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River if it were not held up by the dam. As the backbone project in the Yangtze River flood prevention system, the Three Gorges Dam began to continuously increase discharging water since early July to lift the outflow in order to increase the reservoir capacity to cope with the flood.
The Three Gorges Dam project also ensured a smooth flow of the Yangtze River waterway. The ship lock of Three Gorges Dam continued to maintain safe and high efficient operation in 2018 and helped Dam handled a total of 144 million tons of throughput, up 3.87% from a year earlier, of which 142 million tons flowed through the Three Gorges ship lock, 42% above designed capacity and setting a new record. A total of 42,000 vessels of various types and more than 14,000 passengers passed the ship lock in 2018, with navigation rate exceeding 90%.
As the first gear-and-rack ship lift in China, the Three Gorges ship lift facilitates the rapid passage of ships through the dam, which together with the Three Gorges Dam ship lock, allows big ships to use lock and small vessels to take the lift. The ship lift handled a total of 154,000 passengers and 4,000 vessels with over 1.5 million throughput in 2018. The ship lift not only boosted navigational benefits of the Three Gorges Dam and but also drove the development of Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Three Gorges Dam project has also boosted ecological and environmental prevention efforts in the Yangtze River.
Eco-scheduling may not sound familiar to many people. However, it is an important safeguard for the reproduction of four major farm-raised species of fish in Yangtze River, namely black carp, grass carp, chub and bighead carp. The Three Gorges Reservoir conducted an eco-scheduling experiment on May 19, 2018 to promote the reproduction of these four species of fish, the 11th eco-scheduling experiment at the reservoir since 2011. Eco-scheduling is an experiment designed to create artificial flood peak to facilitate the reproduction of those fish, provided that flooding risk is within control.
The eco-scheduling experiment is just one example of the ecological benefits brought about by the Three Gorges project. During the low water period of Yangtze River in spring and winter, the Tree Gorges Dam Reservoir schedules for water replenishment by increasing discharge flow to ensure the water supply for industrial and agricultural production and residential use in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The hydroelectric power plant of the Three Gorges project generated an additional 5.6 billion kWh electricity in 2018, bringing to total 100 billion kWh electricity it generated in the year that makes it a new annual record in one single power plant in China. The green energy it generated facilitates the economic development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and helps build a clean, low-emission, safe and efficient energy system in the region, making new contribution to the development of beautiful Yangtze River and China initiative.
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By China Three Gorges Corporation
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