China’s Three Gorges seen completed year ahead of plan

CHINA: China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower project, is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, a year ahead of schedule, the media reported on Friday.

Three to four generators were due to start operation this year, Xinhua reported on its Web site (www.xinhuanet.com), without giving the generating capacity. The project has a total capacity of 18.2 gigawatts.

China Three Gorges Project Corporation, operator of the project, had invested 131.3 billion yuan by end of 2006 and would keep the total cost within 180 billion ($23 billion), Xinhua said, lower than the earlier reported $25 billion.

China, wary of over-dependence on imported oil, is keen to boost the use of hydropower, now supplying nearly a quarter of the country’s installed electricity capacity.

A series of similar mega-hydropower plants has been planned or is under construction in the water-rich southwest.

Chinese and international conservation groups have decried these projects, saying they damage the environment and cultural relics while bring few benefits to millions of residents forced out of their homes.

BEIJING, Friday, Reuters