(February 25, 2011) Chinese official media reports that construction of the Three Gorges Dam will be completed in five years.  Cost estimates for the project range from $22.5 billion to $70 billion USD, and it has displaced over 1.4 million people.

All construction works on the Three Gorges Project will have been completed by 2015, said a spokesman with the developer, China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), Friday.

An underground power station with six hydropower turbo-generators being cut beneath the mountain on the southern bank of the Yangtze River and a lift for vessels on the river’s northern bank are the remaining parts to be constructed, said the spokesman.

The multi-functional water control system, believed to be the world’s largest, began construction 18 years ago. Its main works include a gigantic dam, a five-tier ship lock. In addition to hydropower generation, the project is also capable of flood control and navigation.

The Three Gorges Project has had 26 hydropower turbo-generators in operation. By its completion, the project is capable of generating 100 billion kwh electricity a year, the spokesman said.

By the end of 2010, the project had generated more than 440 billion kwh of electricity since it started to generate power in 2003.

Read the original release here.