Gezhouba Dam celebrates 40th anniversary of operation

Gezhouba Water Control Project, owned by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), celebrated its 40th anniversary of operations on July 30.

As the first dam erected in the Yangtze River, Gezhouba Dam was designated as a National Industrial Heritage in 2020. It is also China’s largest water control project in the 20th century.

With an installed capacity of 2.735 million kilowatts and an average annual generating capacity of 16 billion kilowatt-hours, Gezhouba dam is by far the world's largest run-of-river hydropower plant with low hydraulic head and large flow.

Over the past 40 years since its commissioning, the Gezhouba Dam has been running safely and efficiently, giving full play to its huge comprehensive benefits and serving as a crucial project for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Data shows that at the end of July, the project has generated nearly 600 billion kWh of clean electricity, equivalent to saving 184 million tons of standard coal, and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by 503 million tons and about 111,400 tons respectively. Its constant and steady supply of clean electricity has powered the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Since its completion, Gezhouba has mitigated floods with an inflow of over 45,000 cubic meters per second in the mainstream of the Yangtze River for more than 60 times, alleviating the pressure in the lower reaches of the river and helping safeguard people's lives and property in the region.