Three Gorges Project posts strong Q1 results

By Chen Si.

The Three Gorges Project operated smoothly in the first quarter and delivered strong overall performance, according to China Three Gorges Corporation.

Water quality across all monitoring sections of the Three Gorges Reservoir remained stable, with most sections meeting Class II standard.

Ships navigate the five-tier Three Gorges Ship Locks (left) and the Three Gorges ship lift (right). Photo by Wang Gang.

Reservoir inflow during the quarter exceeded the five-year average for the same period by about 10 percent.

Through optimized dispatch operations that accounted for inflow conditions, power demand, and downstream water needs, the reservoir maintained a controlled daily average outflow of over 7,000 cubic meters per second.

To date, the reservoir has cumulatively released about 9 billion cubic meters of water downstream, meeting water demandalong the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In power generation, China Three Gorges Corporation set new first-quarter records across its hydropower, wind power, and solar sectors.

Total power generation exceeded 107.4 billion kilowatt-hours, up 7 percent year on year. The Three Gorges Power Station alone generated over 16 billion kilowatt-hours.

In navigation, the Three Gorges Ship Locks handled 8,337 vessels and 1,088 passengers, with total cargo throughput reaching 35.47 million tons in the first quarter.

The southern route of the Three Gorges Ship Locks began its annual scheduled maintenance shutdown on March 4 to further improve the safety and reliability of its equipment operations.

Serving as a rapid transit channel across the dam, the Three Gorges Ship Lift facilitated the passage of over 100,000 passengers and 875 vessels, while handling a cargo volume of 430,000 tons.

Han Jingwen also contributed to this story