The Three Gorges Project Maintained a Sound Performance in the First Half of 2018

In the first half of 2018, the Three Gorges Project maintained a sound performance with significant comprehensive benefits in flood control, shipping, power generation, and water resources utilization. The trial operation of the Three Gorges ship lift was safe and in order, and the construction of planned projects in the dam area was steadily advanced.

In the first half of the year, the accumulated water supply of the Three Gorges Reservoir hit 148 billion m3, which was 1.4% less than that of the same period of last year while 13.3% more than the design value. During the falling period, the Three Gorges Reservoir replenished 22.67 billion m3 of water to downstream accumulatively, with a minimum daily average outflow of 6,490 m3/s. In the first half of the year, Xiluodu Reservoir carried out stratified water abstraction for the second year in a row, and successfully implemented ecological operation based on water temperature; Xiluodu-Xiangjiaba Cascade and Three Gorges Reservoir carried out ecological operation for many times based on water volume. During the operation period, the total size of the four major Chinese domestic fishes (namely, black carp, grass carp, silver carp, and bighead carp) in the river section near Yichang is about 700 million. The sediments storage in the Three Gorges Reservoir continued to decrease from January to May, accumulatively hit 3.86 million tons, which was 19% less than the average of the same period since operation. The water quality of the mainstream and tributaries of reservoir was good overall, all reaching II-III water quality standards. Earthquakes in the reservoir area and riverbank slopes are under stable monitoring. The cleaning and clearing work in front of the dam was carried out in an orderly manner.

In the first half of the year, the Three Gorges Ship Lock has operated for 4,950 times, passing 20,877 ships, 9,063 passengers, and 66.448 million tons of cargo. The Three Gorges ship lifts were safely loaded with 2,463 chambers, passing through 2,471 ships of various types carrying 54,052 passengers and 876,000 tons of cargos. Since it was put into operation in June 2003, the cumulative cargo volume passing the Three Gorges Ship Lock has reached 1.18 billion tons. Since its trial operation in September 2016, the Three Gorges ship lift has passed a total of 111,000 passengers and 1.451 million tons of cargo. The safe, stable and efficient operation of the navigation facilities of the Three Gorges Project has effectively promoted the implementation of the strategy in Yangtze River Economic Belt.

In the first half of the year, the cumulative power generation of the Three Gorges-Gezhouba Cascade Hydropower Stations was 47.4 billion kWh, of which the Three Gorges Power Station generated 38.9 billion kWh, which was 110 million kWh more than the same period of last year. The Gezhouba Hydropower Station generated 8.5 billion kWh, which was 10 million kWh more than the same period of last year. Up to now, since being put into production, the cumulative power generation of the Three Gorges Power Station has reached 1.13 trillion kWh, equivalent to saving 374 million tons of standard coal, also equals to reducing about 830 million tons of carbon dioxide, 10.23 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 4.92 million tons of nitrogen oxides, which has greatly promoted the economic development of China and the construction of our beautiful homeland.

In the first half of the year, the final financial audit of the Three Gorges ship lift Project has been completed, the completion and acceptance work was in good preparation, and it has good conditions for formal navigation. The construction of the Yangtze River Rare Fish Conservation Center and The Three Gorges Project Museum went on smoothly. The Three Gorges Dam area enjoys a beautiful environment with harmony and stability.