A mammoth power line comes to life deep in the heart of China. The pulse will be felt both east and west. According to the Oct. 10 Zhongguo Xinwen She (China News Service), a major component of China‚Äôs Three Gorges Dam Project, a 500,000-volt power transmission line from Left No. 1 Power Station, began transmitting power on Oct. 11, 2000. The Three Gorges Dam Project (click here to see map), the world’s largest hydroelectric project, is a key undertaking of the State Electric Power Corp. destined to develop western China, supply electricity from west to east, and coordinate the country’s electric power network. The recently inaugurated power line starts at the Left No.1 Power Station at the Three Gorges Dam Project in Yichang County, and terminates at the Wanxian Power Station in Wanzhou, Chongqing. The total planned length of the line is 295.31 kilometers (183 miles) running through Yichang, Zigui and Badong of Hubei Province, and Wushan, Fengjie, Yunyang and Wanzhou of Chongqing. The total investment for the project is close to 380 million renminbi (US$45.9 million) and is scheduled for completion in early 2002. The high-voltage line will connect the Sichuan-Chongqing power grids to the west with the central China grids to the east. The line is a significant conduit of power allowing the Ertan Hydropower Station to send electricity to eastern China, the story said.