(November 23, 2001) The Three Gorges and Gezhouba dams will produce slightly less power this year than last, the general manager announces.

Yichang: China Three Gorges Project Corporation plans to generate 62 billion kilowatts of electricity for its two main power stations in 2006, a slight decrease from the company’s 65.3 billion kw last year. The Three Gorges and the Gezhouba hydroelectric stations are expected to realize a total profit of 5.8 billion yuan (7,160,000 million U.S. dollars) this year, said Li Yong’an, general manger of the company. “According to the construction plan of the Three Gorges Project, the water level at the Three Gorges Reservoir will rise to 156 meters from 135 meters after this year’s flood season, and thus reduce around 10 billion cubic meters of water for the two stations,” Li said. As one of the world’s biggest hydroelectric projects, the Three Gorges Project, which began construction in 1993 and is still underway, includes a 185-meter-high dam and 26 generators on both banks of the Yangtze River, China’s longest. The total installed capacity of the Three Gorges Power Station is 18.2 million kilowatts. Fourteen generators with a capacity of 700,000 kilowatts each began operation last September.

Xinhua, November 23, 2001