How does 3 gorges dam work

The power station also utilises two small 50MW hydro-turbine generating units. The hydropower station utilises the designed total water head of m.

The water inlet steel pipes connecting the turbine are of Bechtel Enterprises provided consulting services to the Three Gorges project in the s.

Turbines and generators for the first 14 generating units of the plant were supplied by two groups of foreign companies, with Alstom-ABB-Kvaerner being responsible for eight units and Voith- Siemens-GE providing the remaining six units.

Turbine and electrical contractors for Three Gorges Dam The subsequent turbine generator sets for the project were constructed and installed by Chinese companies such as Harbin Power Equipment, Dongfang Electrical Machinery, China Gezhouba Group Mechanical and Electrical Construction, through technological transfer.

Nanjing Goulds Pump, a Chinese subsidiary of TT Industries was contracted in to provide 48 deep-well pumps for the five permanent ship locks for the Three Gorges facility. AGRA Monenco, a subsidiary of AGRA Industries provided project management technology including systems engineering, system layout, equipment installation, testing, system operation guidance software, and user training for the project between and Teshmont Consultants was engaged for the first direct current high-voltage transmission line study and design for the Three Gorges dam project.

The company also provided engineering consulting services for high-voltage electrical equipment of the left bank power house. Construction contractors Harza Engineering was contracted to supervise the construction of the Three Gorges dam in Potain, a member of Paris-based Legris Industries Group, supplied two large cranes for the project.

Related transmission and distribution installations are linked to the three regional grids taking power from the Three Gorges Dam, forming a single system from the coast to the border of Tibet. The project consists of a concrete gravity dam with a spillway in the middle. The powerhouse and non-overflow section are stationed at both ends of the dam.

The length of the dam is 2, The project has 34 generators, which includes 32 main generators. The other two are power generators with a capacity of 50MW each. Initial works began in The main equipment orders for the 9,MW first phase were placed in Fourteen of 32 Francis units of MW each were brought online on the left bank of the river between and In the second phase, 12,MW units were added on the opposite bank, increasing the total to 18,MW.

During the second phase, the dam was built to a height of 87m. A m-high permanent ship lock with 14 turbines was built on the southern bank. In the final phase, the dam was raised to a maximum height of m and an additional 12 turbines were installed on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. A single way one step ship lift system was built at the project complex. The maximum lifting height is m and the maximum lifting weight is 11,t.

The spiral casing began on 26 May The spiral casing installation was finalised for the generating Unit 27 in May This completed the spiral casing of all six underground generating units. The first 14 generators became fully operational in October , generating 9,MW at a water level of m.

The first No. All 24 generators and two power generators were switched on in June They produced 16,MW of power, less than the maximum capacity of 18,MW. One of the huge impacts that the dam had was on the farmers and other people living in the reservoir area. At least 1. Other concerns include decreasing sediment levels downstream, which could affect banks downstream and make cities prone to flooding. Finally, there is concern that relics could be lost in the flood area.

Many of these relics and sites have been moved or copied to other locations. There are some huge positive impacts that come with the dam. For instance, in , WWF collaborated with relevant institutions to establish the Expert Working Group of Environmental Flows in China to promote environmental flow research and improvements to practice. This Working Group collaborated closely with CTG and other stakeholders in the environmental flows program of the Three Gorges Dam and other initiatives, including reconnection of river and lakes, measures to aid carp breeding, and ecological operational guidelines.

Below we provide several recommendations drawn in part from Harwood et al. The various agencies and stakeholders should continue collaborating to pursue adaptive management for the environmental flow program. Additionally, data collection and analysis should be expanded to better understand the relationship between changes in the flow regime and the response of carp reproduction.

This can improve understanding of the effectiveness of the flow releases, in terms of biological outcomes, and inform adaptive management. Environmental flows can only address part of the management objectives for fish in the Yangtze and so the flow program should be embedded within a larger program focused on water quality, habitat, and fisheries management.

Additionally, the current flow program is focused on carp but other taxa, especially those which are protected or threatened such as Chinese sturgeon , merit further attention, as does the relationship between river flows and linked freshwater habitats, such as lakes and wetlands. Beyond the Three Gorges Dam, the Yangtze basin contains thousands of dams, including hundreds of large dams. Management of these dams could be coordinated at the basin scale to promote broader environmental flow regimes, consistent with the Chinese government's recent support to focus on environmental restoration for the Yangtze basin.

This basin-scale management of flows could be coordinated with management of the major floodplain lakes, including managing lake levels and connectivity with the Yangtze River. Chinese agencies can continue to learn from the environmental flow program at Three Gorges Dam and apply these lessons to broader application of environmental flows in China. The insights and publicity from re-operating such a high-profile dam can be used by advocates, within and outside of government, to influence Chinese policies on dam operations within China and also the policies and practices that govern how Chinese companies and others plan, design, and operate dams elsewhere around the world.

LC organized the overall paper, collected data, information, and related documents, and was a primary contributor to writing the paper.

JO conducted the main data analysis, contributed to the framework of the paper and made the largest contribution to writing text. DT suggested the framework of the paper and contributed to writing and revisions. RS drafted the abstract and contributed to revisions. QG provided background information and joined the discussion of the paper's framework.

DC provided the essential data for paper writing and contributed to revisions. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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