The world's largest hydroelectric power plant is located in the Yichang district of the Chinese province of Hubei. It is located on the Yangtze River and is called "Sanxia" or "Three Gorges", translated into Russian. Its design capacity is 22.5 gigawatts.
Natural region Three Gorges
The hydroelectric dam was built at a place called Sandouping in the middle of the Xiling Gorge, the longest of the three gorges that carry the Yangtze River and its tributaries through the Wushan Mountain Range. Previously, Xiling was also considered dangerous for travel. It was full of frightening whirlpools and steep rapids. After the commissioning of the dam, the depth of the river in this place increased from 3 meters to one hundred.
Higher up is the Wu Gorge or the Great Gorge - the second in the Sanxia system. It is formed by the Yangtze tributary, the Wongjiang River. It is called the "Golden Helmet in Silver Armor" gorge. The name comes from the shape of the rocks towering over the river and their color. The water level, after the construction of the hydroelectric power station, rose by 30 meters.
The most beautiful of the three gorges is Kwutang. The width of this gorge does not exceed 150 meters, and the mountains on both sides reach 1200 meters. Narrow canyons among high stepped mountains create an impressive picture. In addition, there are many attractions created both by nature itself and by human hands: chalk walls and stalactite caves, narrow walking paths in the mountains and much more.
The Three Gorges natural region is considered one of the most picturesque corners of the PRC, famous for its landscapes and historical monuments. Now tourist companies in China are celebrating a real boom in river cruises to these places. The newly built hydroelectric power plant, the largest on the planet, has brought the region worldwide fame.
Hydroelectric power plant
The National People's Congress approved the construction plan for the Sanxia Hydroelectric Power Station in 1992. The construction itself began on December 14, 1994. The dam, made of concrete and steel, was fully commissioned in 2009. Its length is 2335 meters and its height is 185 meters.
Electricity is generated at the station by 32 main generators with a capacity of 700 megawatts. In addition, there are two more 50 megawatt generators operating here. The main generators weigh approximately 6 thousand tons each. They were made at two joint ventures. The first enterprise includes the French company Alstom, the Swiss ABB Group, the Norwegian Kvaerner and the Chinese Haerbin Motor. The second enterprise includes the German firms Voith and Siemens, the American General Electric and the Chinese Oriental Motor.
The total capacity of the generators is 22,500 megawatts. Now, after many years of construction, installation and testing, the power plant is fully operational. In 2012, the hydroelectric power station generated a record 98.1 billion kWh of electricity, or a seventh of all electricity produced by China.
An important function of the Three Gorges Dam is to reduce the risk of seasonal flooding in the lower Yangtze. So in 1954 the river flooded about 200 thousand square kilometers. Then more than 33 thousand people died, and about two million inhabitants were left homeless. The dam is expected to be able to minimize the impact of even such a super-flood.
