World's most powerful dam fully opens its gates in China

The huge Three Gorges Dam in China has just broken a record to become the world's most...

15:31 26 July 2012

The huge Three Gorges Dam in China has just broken a record to become the world's most powerful dam after it launched all of its generators to maximum capacity as the country's annual flood peak spiked. 

 

Built on the Yangtze River in the Hubei Province, the epic amounts of gushing water create the same amount of power as 15 nuclear reactors put together. 

 

As the final 32 generators went into operation, the world's largest hydro-power project was finalised. 

 

This week, water from the Yangtze River entered at up 70,000 cubic metres per second into the dam's reservoir. 

 

According to the Global Times, it stores 26,000 cubic meters of flood water every second. 

 

This means that the dam is a huge asset for the public who have recently suffered a devastating flood in Beijing. The effects of this are seen as the dam's biggest test. 

 

State media claim that roughly 100 people died as a result of the heavy rain. 

 

"The full operation of the generators makes the Three Gorges Dam the world's largest hydro-power project and largest base of clean energy," said Zhang Cheng, general manager of China Yangtze Power, the operator of the generators of the dam which first went into operation in 2003.

 

But at a cost of $22.5 billion and the relocation of over a million locals to make way for the huge structure, it's more a long term investment.