According to the China Three Gorges Project Corporation, as of February 10, the Three Gorges Power Station has been in operation for five years and seven months, achieving an accumulated power output of 292.6 billion kWh, with power-generation revenues of over 70 billion yuan.

The Three Gorges Project was initially designed to have 26 hydropower generating units installed, each with a 700,000-kilowatt power generating capacity. Of the 26 units, 14 are in the Three Gorges Left Bank Power Station, and the remaining 12 in the Three Gorges Right Bank Power Station. According to design, the units will generate a total annual power output of 84.7 billion kWh.

The first power generating unit of the Three Gorges Power Station started operations on July 10, 2003. By September 16, 2006, all the units of the Three Gorges Left Bank Power Station had been put into operation. The last power generating unit of the Three Gorges Right Bank Power Station started production at the end of last year.

The capacity of the Three Gorges Power Station's generating units in operation has already reached 18.2 million kilowatts. The power output of the Three Gorges Power Station in 2008 reached 80.3 billion kWh, nearly equivalent to the initially designed annual power output.

By People's Daily Online