View source for Three Gorges Dam

{{Short description|Dam in Yiling District, Hubei, China}}
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{{Infobox dam
| name = Three Gorges Dam<br />{{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|三峡大坝}}}}
| image = ThreeGorgesDam-China2009.jpg
| image_caption = The dam in September 2009
| image_size = 260px
| location_map = Hubei#China (equirectangular)
| location_map_size =
| location_map_caption = Location in Hubei Province
| coordinates = 
| country = China
| location = [[Sandouping]], [[Yiling District]], [[Hubei]]
| purpose = Flood control, power, navigation
| status = O
| construction_began = December 14, 1994
| opening = 2003<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=April 11, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411083631/http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/ma2/ | url=http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/ma2/ | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=Stanford University | website=large.stanford.edu | date=November 26, 2010 | access-date=February 13, 2016 | author=Ma, Yue | url-status=live}}</ref>
| demolished =
| cost = [[Renminbi|¥]]203&nbsp;billion (US$31.765&nbsp;billion)<ref>{{cite web | date=February 21, 2020 | access-date=May 27, 2018 | archive-date=May 28, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528052556/https://www.power-technology.com/projects/gorges/ | url=https://www.power-technology.com/projects/gorges/ | title=Three Gorges Dam Hydro Electric Power Plant, China | website=Power Technology  | url-status=live}}</ref>
| owner = [[China Yangtze Power]] (subsidiary of [[China Three Gorges Corporation]])
| dam_type = G
| dam_length = {{cvt|2335|m|0}}
| dam_height = {{cvt|181|m|0}}
| dam_width_crest = {{cvt|40|m|0}}
| dam_width_base = {{cvt|115|m|0}}
| dam_volume = {{convert|27.2|e6m3|e6cuyd|abbr=unit}}
| dam_crosses = [[Yangtze River]]
| spillway_type =
| spillway_capacity = {{cvt|116000|m3/s|cuft/s}}
| res_name = [[Three Gorges Reservoir]]
| res_elevation = {{cvt|175|m|0}}
| res_capacity_total = {{cvt|39.3|km3|acre.ft|lk=out}}
| res_capacity_active =
| res_capacity_inactive =
| res_catchment = {{cvt|1000000|km2|sqmi}}
| res_surface = {{cvt|1084|km2|sqmi|0}}<ref name="chincold">{{cite web | archive-date=March 5, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305215839/http://www.chincold.org.cn/dams/rootfiles/2010/07/20/1279253974143251-1279253974145520.pdf | url=http://www.chincold.org.cn/dams/rootfiles/2010/07/20/1279253974143251-1279253974145520.pdf | title=Three Gorges Project | website=chincold.org.cn | access-date=January 1, 2015 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
| res_max_depth =
| res_max_length = {{cvt|600|km}}<ref name="resstat">{{cite book | title=Engineering Geology for Society and Territory – Volume 2: Landslide Processes | publisher=Springer | date=2014 | page=1415 | isbn=978-3-319-09057-3}}</ref>
| res_max_width = <!--Average: {{cvt|1.1|km}}<ref name=resstat />-->
| res_tidal_range =
| plant_operator =
| plant_commission = 2003–2012
| plant_decommission =
| plant_type = C
| plant_turbines = 32 × 700 [[Megawatt|MW]]<br />2 × 50 MW [[Francis-type]]
| plant_capacity = 22,500 MW
| plant_capacity_factor = 45%
| plant_annual_gen = {{cvt|101.6|TWh|lk=on}} (2018)
| plant_hydraulic_head = Rated: {{cvt|80.6|m|0}}<br />Maximum: {{cvt|113|m|0}}<ref name=chincold />
| website =
| extra =
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 13
}}

The '''Three Gorges Dam''',{{efn|{{zh|s=三峡大坝|t=三峽大壩|p=Sānxiá Dàbà}}}} officially known as '''Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project'''{{efn|{{zh|s=长江三峡水利枢纽工程|t=長江三峽水利樞紐工程}}}} is a [[hydroelectric]] [[gravity dam]] that spans the [[Yangtze River]] near [[Sandouping]] in [[Yiling District]], Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the [[Three Gorges]]. The [[List of largest power stations|world's largest power station]] by [[installed capacity]] (22,500&nbsp;[[Megawatt|MW]]),<ref name="ClevelandMorris2013">{{cite book | first1=Cutler J. | last1 = Cleveland | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScL77rOCZn0C&pg=PA44 | title=Handbook of Energy: Chronologies, Top Ten Lists, and Word Clouds | publisher=[[Elsevier Science]] | date= 2013 | first2=Christopher G. |last2=Morris | page=44 | isbn=978-0-12-417019-3}}</ref><ref name="Ehrlich2013">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3zSBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA219|title=Renewable Energy: A First Course|author1-link=Robert Ehrlich (physicist)|last=Ehrlich|first=Robert|date=2013|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4665-9944-4|page=219|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20&nbsp;[[TWh]] of [[electricity]] per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://news.china.com.cn/2019-01/10/content_74360583.htm |language=zh |script-title=zh:三峡工程2018年发电量、过闸货运量刷新历史纪录 |trans-title=The Three Gorges Project's 2018 power generation and cargo volume through the gate set new historical records |date=January 10, 2019 |website=news.china.com.cn |agency=China News Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110174637/http://news.china.com.cn/2019-01/10/content_74360583.htm |archive-date=January 10, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the [[Monsoon|monsoons]] of 2020, the dam produced nearly 112&nbsp;TWh in a year, breaking the record of 103&nbsp;TWh set by the [[Itaipu Dam]] in 2016.<ref name=wr20>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/china-s-three-gorges-dam-sets-world-hydropower-production-record-8211-china-daily-61949193 |title=China's Three Gorges Dam sets world hydropower production record – China Daily |date=January 2, 2021 |website=spglobal.com |last=Kirong |first=Nephele |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624195815/https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/china-s-three-gorges-dam-sets-world-hydropower-production-record-8211-china-daily-61949193 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.itaipu.gov.br/en/press-office/news/itaipu-ends-2016-historic-production-10309-million-mwh|title=Itaipu Ends 2016 with a Historic Production of 103.09 Million MWh|date=January 3, 2017|website=Itaipu Bunacional|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317144718/https://www.itaipu.gov.br/en/press-office/news/itaipu-ends-2016-historic-production-10309-million-mwh|archive-date=March 17, 2017|access-date=March 16, 2017}}</ref>

The dam's body, 185 meters high and 2,309 meters wide, was completed in 2006.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Singham |first=Ichchha |date=2023-12-12 |title=Project in-depth: The Three Gorges Dam, China |url=https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a11629-project-in-depth-the-three-gorges-dam-china/#google_vignette |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521230550/https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a11629-project-in-depth-the-three-gorges-dam-china/#google_vignette |archive-date=May 21, 2024 |access-date=2025-02-22 |work=RTF {{!}} Rethinking The Future |language=en-US}}</ref> The power plant became fully operational in 2012,<ref name="autogenerated5">{{cite web|url=http://www.ctg.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=60653|publisher=[[China Three Gorges Corporation]]|website=ctg.com.cn|language=zh|script-title=zh:三峡工程最后一台机组结束72小时试运行|trans-title=The last unit of the Three Gorges Project has completed its 72-hour test run|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512233812/http://www.ctg.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=60653|archive-date=May 12, 2013|date=May 24, 2012|access-date=June 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | access-date=July 8, 2012 | date=July 5, 2012 | url=http://www.ctg.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=62169 | trans-title=The mechanical and electrical equipment of the Three Gorges Underground Power Station is fully handed over and put into operation | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | website=ctg.com.cn | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡地下电站机电设备全面移交投产 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405105848/http://www.ctg.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=62169 | archive-date=April 5, 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref> when the last of the 32 main [[water turbine]]s in the underground plant began production. The last major component of the project, the ship lift, was completed in 2015.<ref name="shipcom">{{cite news |date=January 14, 2016 |script-title=zh:世界最大“升船电梯”三峡大坝试验成功 |trans-title=The world's largest "ship lift" Three Gorges Dam successfully tested |url=http://news.cnhubei.com/xw/jj/201601/t3513977.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222012223/http://news.cnhubei.com/xw/jj/201601/t3513977.shtml |archive-date=February 22, 2016 |access-date=February 15, 2016 |website=news.cnhubei.com |language=zh |agency=[[Chutian Golden News|Chutian Jinbao]]}}</ref> 

Each of the 32 turbines, considered [[state-of-the-art]] at the time of their installation,<ref>{{cite web |date=March 10, 2009 |script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 |trans-title=Our country's large-scale hydropower unit manufacturing has reached the world's advanced level |url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=32325 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002055542/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=32325 |archive-date=October 2, 2011 |access-date=August 1, 2009 |website=ctgpc.com.cn |publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation |language=zh}}</ref> can generate 700&nbsp;MW.<ref name="iet2009">{{cite web | archive-date=July 16, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716092946/https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2009/03/taming-the-yangtze/ | url=https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2009/03/taming-the-yangtze/ | title=Taming the Yangtze | url-status=live | work=IET magazine | date=March 2, 2009 | last=Acker | first=Fabian}}</ref><ref name="ctgpc1">{{cite web | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | website=ctgpc.com.cn | date=October 30, 2008 | access-date=December 6, 2008 | language=zh | archive-date=February 9, 2009 |script-title=zh:三峡工程左右岸电站26台机组全部投入商业运行 | trans-title=All 26 units of power stations on left and right banks of the Three Gorges Project have been put into commercial operation |url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=30559 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209230355/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=30559 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Combined with two 50 MW generators that power the plant itself, the Three Gorges Dam can generate some 22,500&nbsp;MW<ref name="iet2009" /><ref name="Xinhua20081007">{{cite news | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/07/content_10162045.htm | title=Three Gorges reservoir raises water to target level | agency=Xinhua News Agency | website=news.xinhuanet.com | date=October 7, 2008 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110232324/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/07/content_10162045.htm | archive-date=January 10, 2010 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="inventspot">{{cite web | archive-date=May 4, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504133535/http://inventorspot.com/articles/final_turbine_chinas_three_gorges_dam_begins_testing | url=http://inventorspot.com/articles/final_turbine_chinas_three_gorges_dam_begins_testing | title=Final Turbine at China's Three Gorges Dam Begins Testing | website=InventorSpot.com | date=April 27, 2011 | access-date=May 15, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=February 3, 2009 |script-title=zh:一座自主创新历史丰碑 三峡工程的改革开放之路 |trans-title=The road to reform and the opening up of the Three Gorges Project, a historical monument of independent innovation |url=http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-02/03/content_15593414.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228093530/http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-02/03/content_15593414.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2009 |access-date=August 1, 2009 |language=zh |agency=Xinhua News Agency}}</ref>—far more than the next-biggest hydroelectric plant, Brazil’s 12,600-MW [[Itaipu Dam|Itaipu]] facility. 

The dam improves the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and provides [[flood control]], helping to protect millions of people from severe flooding on the [[Yangtze Plain]]. Additionally, its hydroelectric power generation has helped fuel China's economic growth. As a result, the Chinese government considers the project a source of national pride and a major social and economic success.<ref>{{cite web | website=ctgpc.com.cn | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | date=April 8, 2009 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002055502/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=32819 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | trans-title=The Three Gorges Hydropower Station has brought huge economic benefits and the cumulative power generation has exceeded 300 billion kWh | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=32819 | archive-date=October 2, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> However, it is controversial domestically and abroad.<ref name="controversy">{{cite magazine | archive-date=March 31, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331191540/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html | url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html | title=China's Three Gorges Dam Under Fire | url-status=dead | magazine=Time | date=October 12, 2007 | access-date=March 28, 2009 | first=Lin |last=Yang | quote=The giant Three Gorges Dam across China's Yangtze River has been mired in controversy ever since it was first proposed}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/death081798.htm | title=Untamed Waterways Kill Thousands Yearly | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 17, 1998 | access-date=March 28, 2009 | archive-date=March 6, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306071112/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/death081798.htm | last=Laris | first=Michael | quote=Officials now use the deadly history of the Yangtze, China's longest river, to justify the country's riskiest and most controversial infrastructure project&nbsp;– the enormous Three Gorges Dam. | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/gc/date/2005-06-18/segment/01 | title=Global Challenges: Ecological and Technological Advances Around the World | website=CNN | date=June 18, 2005 | access-date=March 28, 2009 | archive-date=September 24, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924081637/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/18/gc.01.html | last=Grant | first=Stan | quote=China's engineering marvel is unleashing a torrent of criticism. [...] When it comes to global challenges, few are greater or more controversial than the construction of the massive Three Gorges Dam in Central China. | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bjreview.com.cn/eye/txt/2008-12/06/content_168792.htm | title=Rolling on A River | work=Beijing Review | date=December 11, 2008 | access-date=March 28, 2009 | archive-date=September 22, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922231347/http://www.bjreview.com.cn/eye/txt/2008-12/06/content_168792.htm | last=Gerin | first=Roseanne | quote=...the 180-billion yuan ($26.3&nbsp;billion) Three Gorges Dam project has been highly contentious. | url-status=dead }}</ref> Estimates of the number of people displaced by the dam's construction range from 1.13 million to around 1.4 million.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wilmsen |first=Brooke |date=2016-08-01 |title=After the Deluge: A longitudinal study of resettlement at the Three Gorges Dam, China |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X16303539?__cf_chl_tk=hNxeRsTpaDZGe0EbLAjObuHNVgndEPMvjcxhVpzQaqg-1740194179-1.0.1.1-eNgowmQoGI03QczBFytRcx_WGLHsSsjJ_cfeqCvZu8Q |journal=World Development |volume=84 |pages=41–54 |doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.04.003 |issn=0305-750X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gan |first=Nectar |date=2020-08-01 |title=China's Three Gorges Dam is one of the largest ever created. Was it worth it? |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/china-three-gorges-dam-intl-hnk-dst/index.html#:~:text=Those%20doubts%20recently%20resurfaced,%20as,20.5%20billion)%20in%20economic%20losses. |access-date=2025-02-22 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Sukhan |last2=Sleigh |first2=Adrian |date=2000-06-01 |title=Resettlement for China's Three Gorges Dam: socio-economic impact and institutional tensions |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/cpcs/article-abstract/33/2/223/455/Resettlement-for-China-s-Three-Gorges-Dam-socio?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Communist and Post-Communist Studies |language=en |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=223–241 |doi=10.1016/S0967-067X(00)00005-2 |issn=0967-067X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Its construction has also inundated ancient and culturally significant sites. In operation, the dam has caused some ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=April 13, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413224240/http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/9105724.html |language=zh |script-title=zh:重庆云阳长江右岸现360万方滑坡险情-地方-人民网 |trans-title=There are 3.6 million square meters of landslides on the right bank of the Yangtze River in Yunyang, Chongqing |url=http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/9105724.html |url-status=dead |work=People's Daily Online |date=April 10, 2009 |access-date=August 1, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | agency=Xinhua News Agency | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-date=April 11, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411013034/http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-04/09/content_11157017.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:探访三峡库区云阳故陵滑坡险情 | trans-title=Visiting the Yunyang Guling Landslide Danger in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area | date=April 9, 2009 | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-04/09/content_11157017.htm | url-status=dead}}</ref>
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== History ==
[[File:Wuhan-Flood-Memorial-0220.jpg|thumb|left|In his poem "Swimming" (1956), engraved on the [[1954 Yangtze floods|1954 Flood]] Memorial in [[Wuhan]], Mao Zedong envisions "A Great Stone Wall, to catch the clouds and rains of Wushan as the fall" as "A Great lake shall rise upon the gorge!".<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=September 12, 2009 | url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/poems/poems23.htm | title="Swimming" by Mao Zedong | publisher=Marxists.org | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912071107/http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/poems/poems23.htm | url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Threegorges.png|thumb|left|Map of the location of the Three Gorges Dam and the most important cities along the Yangtze River]]

[[Sun Yat-sen]] envisioned a large dam across the Yangtze River in ''The International Development of China'' (1919).<ref>{{cite magazine | access-date=October 13, 2007 | archive-date=October 13, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013172456/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html | url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html | title=China's Three Gorges Dam Under Fire | magazine=Time | date=October 12, 2007 | author=Lin Yang | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2006">{{cite web | publisher=Sina Corp | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-date=June 11, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611133951/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2006-10-23/113410303856s.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国国民党、亲民党、111新党访问团相继参观三峡工程_新闻中心_新浪网 | trans-title=The Chinese Kuomintang, the People First Party, and the New Party delegation visited the Three Gorges Project | url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2006-10-23/113410303856s.shtml | url-status=live}}</ref> He wrote that a dam capable of generating 30&nbsp;million horsepower (22&nbsp;GW) was possible downstream of the [[Three Gorges]].<ref name="autogenerated2006" /> In 1932, the [[Nationalist government]], led by [[Chiang Kai-shek]], began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], Japanese military forces occupied [[Yichang]] and surveyed the area.

In 1944, the [[United States Bureau of Reclamation]]'s head design engineer, [[John L. Savage]], surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for a "Yangtze River Project".<ref name="nasbio">{{cite book | archive-date=June 7, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607121452/http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/jsavage.pdf | date=1978 | first1=Abel | publisher=National Academy of Science | last2=Lyles | first2=W. H. | last1=Wolman | url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/jsavage.pdf | title=John Lucian Savage Biography}}</ref> Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the US for training. The original plans called for the dam to employ a unique method for moving ships: the ships would enter locks at the dam's lower and upper ends and then cranes would move them from each lock to the next. Groups of craft would be lifted together for efficiency. It is not known whether this solution was considered for its water-saving performance or because the engineers thought the difference in height between the river above and below the dam too great for alternative methods.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA98 | title=China's Dream Dam | work=Popular Science | publisher=Bonnier Corporation | date=June 1946 | volume=148 | issue=6 | page=98 | issn=0161-7370}}</ref> No construction work was performed because of the Nationalists' worsening situation in the Chinese Civil War.<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Harrell |first=Stevan |title=An Ecological History of Modern China |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |year=2023 |isbn=9780295751719 |location=Seattle}}</ref>{{Rp|page=204}}

After the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|1949 Communist Revolution]], [[Mao Zedong]] supported the project, but began the [[Gezhouba Dam]] project nearby first, and economic problems including the [[Great Leap Forward]] and the [[Cultural Revolution]] slowed progress. After the [[1954 Yangtze River Floods]], in 1956, Mao wrote "[[Poetry of Mao Zedong#Swimming (1956)|Swimming]]", a poem about his fascination with a dam on the Yangtze River. In 1958, after the [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]], some engineers who spoke out against the project were imprisoned.<ref name="WPhist">{{cite news | archive-date=January 6, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106142004/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/yangtze/yangtze.htm | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/yangtze/yangtze.htm | title=The Yangtze Dam: Feat or Folly? | url-status=live | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=November 9, 1997 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | author=Steven Mufson}}</ref>

During China's emphasis on the [[Four Modernizations]] during its early period of [[Reform and Opening Up]], The Communist Party revived plans for the dam and proposed to start construction in 1986.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=204}} It emphasized the need to develop hydroelectric power.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=204}}

The [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]] became a center of opposition to the proposed dam.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=204}} It convened panels of experts who recommended delaying the project.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=204}}

The [[National People's Congress]] approved the dam in 1992: of 2,633 delegates, 1,767 voted in favour, 177 voted against, 664 abstained, and 25 members did not vote, giving the legislation an unusually low 67.75% approval rate.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=News.rednet.cn | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024424/http://news.china.com/history/all/11025807/20110402/15882237.html | archive-date=September 27, 2011 | df=mdy-all | language=zh | script-title=zh:1992年4月3日全国人大批准兴建三峡工程 | url=http://news.china.com/history/all/11025807/20110402/15882237.html | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/14576/28320/35193/35208/2681065.html|title=人民网 – 404页面|access-date=May 28, 2020|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001027/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/14576/28320/35193/35208/2681065.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Construction started on December 14, 1994.<ref name="allin">{{cite thesis | last=Allin | first=Samuel Robert Fishleigh | date=November 30, 2004 | title=An Examination of China's Three Gorges Dam Project Based on the Framework Presented in the Report of The World Commission on Dams | type=MS paper | publisher=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | url=https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/37152 | access-date=March 14, 2023 | df=mdy-all | hdl=10919/37152 }}</ref> The dam was expected to be fully operational in 2009, but additional projects, such as the underground [[power plant]] with six additional generators, delayed full operation until 2012.<ref name="inventspot" /><ref name="WPhist" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=July 3, 2012|title=Three Gorges Dam now at full capacity|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-07/05/content_15550639.htm|access-date=December 7, 2020|website=China Daily}}</ref> The ship lift was completed in 2015.<ref name="shipcom" /><ref name="CnHubei20071110" /> The dam raised the water level in the reservoir to {{cvt|172.5|m|0}} above sea level by 2008 and to the designed maximum level of {{cvt|175|m|0}} by 2010.<ref name="Xin2010" /><ref>{{cite web | publisher=News.sohu.com | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-date=June 11, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611141344/http://news.sohu.com/20081106/n260480174.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡完成172.5米蓄水 中游航道正常维护(图)-搜狐新闻 | trans-title=The Three Gorges completed the normal maintenance of the 172.5-meter water storage channel | url=http://news.sohu.com/20081106/n260480174.shtml | url-status=live}}</ref>

== Composition and dimensions ==
{{Multiple image
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| image1    = TGDModelSpillwayView.jpg
| width1    = 220
| caption1  = Model of the Three Gorges Dam looking upstream, showing the dam body (middle left), the spillway (middle of the dam body) and the ship lift (to the right).
| image2    = TGDModelShipLocks.jpg
| width2    = 220
| caption2  = Model of the Three Gorges Dam showing the ship lift and the ship lock. The ship lift is to the right of the dam body with its own designated waterway. The ship locks are to the right (northeast) of the ship lift.
| image3    = TGDModelAuxSouthDam.jpg
| width3    = 220
| caption3  = Earthfill south dam in foreground with view along main dam. The wall beyond is to separate spillway and turbine flows from the lock and ship lift upstream approach channel. A similar separation is used on the downstream side, seen partially in the preceding image.
}}

Made of concrete and steel, the dam is {{cvt|2335|m|yd mi}} long and {{cvt|185|m|0}} above sea level at its top. The project used {{convert|27.2|e6m3|e6cuyd|abbr=unit}} of concrete (mainly for the dam wall), used 463,000 [[tonne]]s of steel (enough to build 63 [[Eiffel Tower]]s), and moved about {{convert|102.6|e6m3|e6cuyd|abbr=unit}} of earth.<ref name="ibib1">{{cite news | archive-date=November 25, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125121320/http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/07spe/specrep01.html#Quick%20Facts | url=http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/07spe/specrep01.html#Quick%20Facts | title=Three Gorges Dam Project&nbsp; – Quick Facts | publisher=ibiblio.org | access-date=November 23, 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> The concrete dam wall is {{cvt|181|m|0}} high above the rock basis.

When the water level is at its maximum of {{cvt|175|m|0}} above sea level, {{cvt|110|m|0}} higher than the river level downstream, the dam reservoir is on average about {{cvt|660|km|0}} in length and {{cvt|1.12|km|ft|0}} in width. It contains {{cvt|39.3|km3|acre.ft|lk=out}} of water and has a total surface area of {{cvt|1045|km2}}. On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of {{cvt|632|km2|acre}} of land, compared to the {{cvt|1350|km2|acre}} of reservoir created by the [[Itaipu Dam]].<ref name="Xinhua20031121">{{cite news | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2003-05/30/content_896773.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡水库：世界淹没面积最大的水库 (Three Gorges reservoir: World submergence area biggest reservoir) | publisher=Xinhua Net | date=November 21, 2003 | access-date=April 10, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012222330/http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2003-05/30/content_896773.htm | archive-date=October 12, 2007 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Economics ==
The Chinese government estimated that the Three Gorges Dam project would cost 180&nbsp;billion yuan (US$22.5&nbsp;billion).<ref name=wpm2007 /> By the end of 2008, spending had reached 148.365&nbsp;billion yuan, of which 64.613&nbsp;billion yuan was spent on construction, 68.557&nbsp;billion yuan on relocating affected residents, and 15.195&nbsp;billion yuan on financing.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://chinaneast.xinhuanet.com/jszb/2009-01/11/content_15419027.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:国家重大技术装备 | trans-title=The Three Gorges Project will be completed and accepted this year, including 8 special projects as well as hub projects |agency=Xinhua News Agency | date=January 11, 2009 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208041857/http://chinaneast.xinhuanet.com/jszb/2009-01/11/content_15419027.htm | archive-date=February 8, 2009 | url-status=dead}}</ref> It was estimated in 2009 that the cost of construction would be fully recouped when the dam had generated {{convert|1000|TWh|lk=in}} of electricity, yielding 250&nbsp;billion yuan; total cost recovery was thus expected to be completed ten years after the dam became fully operational.<ref name=wpm2007>{{cite web | url=http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2041318 | title=Beyond Three Gorges in China | work=International Water Power and Dam Construction | date=January 10, 2007 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614050746/http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2041318 | archive-date=June 14, 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref> In fact, the entire cost of the Three Gorges Dam was recovered by December 20, 2013.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 16, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816174159/http://xw.qq.com/news/20131220014534/NEW2013122001453402 | url=http://xw.qq.com/news/20131220014534/NEW2013122001453402 | script-title=zh:官方:三峡工程回收投资成本 | trans-title=Official: Three Gorges Project recovers investment cost | agency=中新社 (China News Service) | website=xw.qq.com | date=December 20, 2013 | access-date=May 21, 2016 | language=zh | url-status=live}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=May 2023}}

Funding sources include the Three Gorges Dam Construction Fund, profits from the [[Gezhouba Dam]], loans from the [[China Development Bank]], loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, [[corporate bond]]s, and revenue from both before and after the dam had become fully operational. Additional charges were assessed as follows: every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam had to pay an extra ¥7.00 per MWh, and the other provinces had to pay an additional charge of ¥4.00 per MWh. No surcharge was imposed on the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/sxgczds.php?mClassId=015004 | script-title=zh:建三峡工程需要多少钱 | trans-title=How much does it cost to build the Three Gorges Project? | publisher=China Three Gorges Project Corporation | date=April 20, 2003 | access-date=April 29, 2007 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407133833/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/sxgczds.php?mClassId=015004 | archive-date=April 7, 2007 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Power generation and distribution ==

=== Generating capacity ===
[[File:Electricity production in China.svg|thumb|Electricity production in China by source. Compare: The fully completed Three Gorges dam contributes about 100&nbsp;TWh of generation per year.|upright=1.3]]
[[File:China hydroelectricity production.svg|thumb|Three Gorges Dam compared to all other Chinese hydroelectricity production|upright=1.3]]
Power generation is managed by [[China Yangtze Power]], a listed subsidiary of [[China Three Gorges Corporation]] (CTGC), a [[State-owned enterprise|Central Enterprise]] administered by [[SASAC]]. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest capacity hydroelectric power station, with 34&nbsp;generators: 32 main generators, each with a capacity of 700&nbsp;MW, and two plant power generators, each with capacity of 50&nbsp;MW, for a total of 22,500&nbsp;MW.<ref name="iet2009" /> Among the 32 main generators, 14 are installed on the dam's north side, 12 on the south side, and the remaining six in the [[underground power plant]] in the mountain south of the dam. Annual electricity generation in 2018 was 101.6&nbsp;TWh,<ref name="auto" /> which is 20 times more than the [[Hoover Dam]].<ref>{{cite web | access-date=October 8, 2019 | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2006/06/china-three-gorges-dam-how-big/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114115058/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2006/06/china-three-gorges-dam-how-big/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 14, 2019 | title=China's Three Gorges Dam, by the Numbers | date=June 9, 2006 | website=Science}}</ref>

=== Generators ===
The main generators each weigh about 6,000&nbsp;tonnes and are designed to produce more than 700&nbsp;MW of power each. The designed [[hydraulic head]] of the generators is {{convert|80.6|m}}. The flow rate varies between {{convert|600|-|950|m3/s}} depending on the head available; the greater the head, the less water needed to reach full power. Three Gorges uses [[Francis turbine]]s with a diameter of 9.7/10.4&nbsp;m (VGS design/Alstom's design) and a rotation speed of 75&nbsp;revolutions per minute. This means that in order to generate power at 50&nbsp;[[Hz]], the generator rotors have 80 poles. Rated power is 778 [[Volt ampere|MVA]], with a maximum of 840&nbsp;MVA and a [[power factor]] of 0.9. The generator produces electrical power at 20&nbsp;[[Volt|kV]]. The electricity generated is then stepped up to 500&nbsp;kV for transmission at 50&nbsp;Hz. The generator's [[stator]], the biggest of its kind, is 3.1/3&nbsp;m in height; the outer diameter of the stator is 21.4/20.9&nbsp;m, the inner diameter is 18.5/18.8&nbsp;m, and the bearing load is 5,050/5,500 tonnes. Average efficiency is over 94%, with a maximum efficiency of 96.5% reached.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 28, 2008 |agency=Xinhua News Agency |access-date=December 6, 2008 | language=zh |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |script-title=zh:李永安:我水轮发电机组已具完全自主设计制造能力_财经频道_新华网 | trans-title=Li Yongan: Our hydroelectric generator set has completely independent design and manufacture capabilities | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2008-08/28/content_9723523_2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207040501/http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2008-08/28/content_9723523_2.htm  |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |first1=Matthew |last1=Morioka |url=http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/~panos/444_09_4_9.pdf |title=Three Gorges Dam |access-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307101739/http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/~panos/444_09_4_9.pdf |last2=Abrishamkar |first2=Alireza |last3=Kay |id=CEE 491 |first3=Yve |url-status=live |website=eng.hawaii.edu}}</ref>
[[File:Sanxia Runner04 300.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Francis turbine]] at Three Gorges Dam]]

The generators were manufactured by two joint ventures: [[Alstom]], [[ABB]], [[Kvaerner]], and the Chinese company Harbin Motor; and [[Voith]], [[General Electric]], [[Siemens]] (abbreviated as VGS), and the Chinese company Oriental Motor. The technology transfer agreement was signed together with the contract. Most of the generators are water-cooled. Some of the newer ones are air-cooled, making them simpler in design and easier to manufacture and maintain.<ref name="Chinacom20020726">{{cite news  |url=http://www.chinaccm.com/23/2307/230701/news/20020726/105549.asp |title=三峡工程及其水电机组概况 |publisher=中华商务网讯 |date=July 26, 2002 |access-date=April 11, 2008 | language=zh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207034132/http://www.chinaccm.com/23/2307/230701/news/20020726/105549.asp |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |trans-title=Three Gorges Project and water and electricity unit survey |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Generator installation progress ===
The first north-side main generator (No.&nbsp;2) started up on July 10, 2003. The north side became completely operational on September 7, 2005, with the implementation of generator No.&nbsp;9. Full power (9,800&nbsp;MW) was eventually achieved on October 18, 2006, after the water level reached 156&nbsp;meters.<ref>{{cite news | archive-date=May 31, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070531164747/http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2006-10/18/content_416256.htm | url=http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2006-10/18/content_416256.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=Government of China | date=October 18, 2006 | access-date=May 15, 2007 | language=zh | url-status=live}}</ref>

On the south side, main generator No.&nbsp;22 started up on June 11, 2007, and No.&nbsp;15 became operational on October 30, 2008.<ref name="ctgpc1" /> The sixth (No.&nbsp;17) began operation on December 18, 2007, raising capacity to 14.1&nbsp;GW, exceeding that of Itaipu dam (14.0&nbsp;GW) to become the world's largest hydro power plant by capacity.<ref name="Ctgpc20080505">{{cite news | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=28253 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | publisher=[[China Three Gorges Corporation]] | website=ctgpc.com.cn | date=May 5, 2008 | access-date=August 9, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207081802/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=28253 | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | trans-title=The stability of domestically produced large-scale generator sets continues to improve | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | website=ctgpc.com.cn |date=June 20, 2008 | access-date=December 6, 2008 | language=zh | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | script-title=zh:三峡右岸电站19号机组完成72小时试运行 | trans-title=Unit 19 of the Three Gorges Right Bank Power Station has completed a 72-hour test run |url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=28982 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207081809/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=28982 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29089 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | trans-title=Unit 16 of Three Gorges Right Bank Power Station put into operation | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | website=ctgpc.com.cn | date=July 4, 2008 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210074930/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29089 | archive-date=February 10, 2009 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher=China Three Gorges Corporation | website=ctgpc.com.cn | date=August 22, 2008 | access-date=December 6, 2008 | language=zh | archive-date=January 20, 2012 | script-title=zh:三峡23号机组进入72小时试运行 | trans-title=Three Gorges Unit 23 enters 72-hour trial operation | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29622 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120120009/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29622 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

When the last main generator (No. 27) finished its final test on May 23, 2012, the six underground main generators were all operational, raising the capacity to 22.5 GW.<ref name="autogenerated5" /> After nine years of construction, installation and testing, the power plant was fully operational by July 2012.<ref name=inventspot /><ref>{{cite web | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡地下电站30号机组充水启动 | trans-title=Unit No. 30 of Three Gorges Underground Power Station filled with water and started up | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=48315 | publisher=Three Gorges Corporation | date=July 4, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714012036/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=48315 | archive-date=July 14, 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=October 4, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004153446/http://finance.ifeng.com/stock/roll/20110704/4224188.shtml | url=http://finance.ifeng.com/stock/roll/20110704/4224188.shtml | title=Three Gorges underground power station water-filled start the third unit successfully put into operation in July plans | publisher=Fenghuang Wang | access-date=July 10, 2011 | language=zh | url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Output milestones ===
{| class="wikitable floatleft" style="text-align:right;"
|+ Annual production of electricity
|-
! Year
! Number of<br />installed units
! TWh
! Reference
|-
| 2003
| 6
| 8.607 ||
|-
| 2004
| 11
| 39.155 ||
|-
| 2005
| 14
| 49.090 ||
|-
| 2006
| 14
| 49.250 ||
|-
| 2007
| 21
| 61.600 ||
|-
| 2008
| 26
| 80.812 ||<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cepn.sp.com.cn/bwtj/200901/t20090109_268374.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国电力新闻网 – 电力行业的门户网站 | publisher=Cepn.sp.com.cn | access-date=August 1, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
| 2009
| 26
| 79.470 ||<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chinaequip.gov.cn/2010-01/08/c_13130850.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:国家重大技术装备 | publisher=Chinaequip.gov.cn | date=January 8, 2010 | access-date=August 20, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429081818/http://www.chinaequip.gov.cn/2010-01/08/c_13130850.htm | archive-date=April 29, 2010 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| 2010
| 26
| 84.370 ||<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=45908 | language=zh | script-title=zh:峡 – 葛洲坝梯级电站全年发电1006.1亿千瓦时 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901062618/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=45908 | archive-date=September 1, 2011 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| 2011
| 29
| 78.290 ||<ref>{{cite web | access-date=January 12, 2012 | archive-date=October 23, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023061713/http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/01/07/1461s675113.htm | url=http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/01/07/1461s675113.htm | title=Three Gorges Project Generates 78.29 Bln Kwh of Electricity in 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| 2012
| 32
|98.100||<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web | access-date=January 19, 2013 | archive-date=January 20, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120060226/http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2013-01/14/content_2311905.htm | url=http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2013-01/14/content_2311905.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:2012年三峡工程建设与运行管理成效十分显著 | url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| 2013
| 32
|83.270 ||<ref>{{cite web | access-date=January 13, 2014 | archive-date=January 13, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113154112/http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2014/01-08/5713938.shtml | url=http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2014/01-08/5713938.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程2013年建设运行情况良好 发挥综合效益 | url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| 2014
| 32
|98.800 ||<ref>{{cite web | access-date=January 15, 2017 | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180056/http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-three-gorges-dam-breaks-world-hydropower-record-004111862.html | url=https://news.yahoo.com/chinas-three-gorges-dam-breaks-world-hydropower-record-004111862.html | title=China's Three Gorges dam 'breaks world hydropower record' | url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| 2015
| 32
|87.000 ||<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=January 16, 2016 | url=https://www.itaipu.gov.br/sala-de-imprensa/noticia/itaipu-bate-tres-gargantas-e-reassume-lideranca-em-producao | language=pt |title=Itaipu bate Três Gargantas e reassume liderança em produção |trans-title=Itaipu overtakes Three Gorges and resumes the lead in production | url-status=live | work=itaipu.gov.br | date=January 7, 2016 | access-date=January 7, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116032200/https://www.itaipu.gov.br/sala-de-imprensa/noticia/itaipu-bate-tres-gargantas-e-reassume-lideranca-em-producao}}</ref>
|-
| 2016
| 32
|93.500 || <ref>{{cite news | archive-date=March 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301115027/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-03/01/content_28396395.htm | url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-03/01/content_28396395.htm | title=Three Gorges Project reaches 1 trillion kWh milestone | work=[[China Daily]] | date=March 1, 2017 | access-date=May 20, 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>
|- style="background:#ccf;"
|-
| 2017
| 32
|97.600 || <ref>{{cite news | archive-date=March 3, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303050307/https://gbtimes.com/chinas-three-gorges-project-increases-power-output-in-2017 | url=https://gbtimes.com/chinas-three-gorges-project-increases-power-output-in-2017 | title=China's Three Gorges project increases power output in 2017 | work=GBTimes.com | date=January 4, 2017 | access-date=March 2, 2018 | url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|2018
|32
|101.600
|<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{cite web | access-date=March 21, 2019 | archive-date=March 21, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321110824/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201812/21/WS5c1c5eeca3107d4c3a002168.html | url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201812/21/WS5c1c5eeca3107d4c3a002168.html | title=Three Gorges Dam generates record amount of power | date=December 21, 2018 | last=Zhang | first=Jie | url-status=live | website=China Daily}}</ref>
|-
| 2019
| 32
|96.880 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://finance.sina.com.cn/china/gncj/2020-01-07/doc-iihnzahk2534157.shtml|title=三峡工程2019年运行情况良好 综合效益显著发挥|date=January 7, 2020|publisher=Sina Corp}}</ref>
|-
| 2020
| 32
|111.800 || <ref name=wr20 />
|-
| 2021
| 32
|103.649 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterpowermagazine.com/news/newsthree-gorges-crosses-100b-kwh-power-generation-mark-in-2021-9406102|title=Three Gorges crosses 100b kWh power generation mark in 2021|date=March 14, 2022|website=waterpowermagazine.com}}</ref>
|-
| 2022
| 32
|78.790 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stcn.com/article/detail/768963.html|title=长江电力：2022年总发电量1855.81亿千瓦时 同比减少10.92%|date=January 5, 2023}}</ref>
|-
| 2023
| 32
|80.271 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202401/content_6925452.htm|title=2023年三峡枢纽通过货运量再创新高|date=January 11, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| 2024
| 32
|82.911 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.bjx.com.cn/mnews/20250107/1421436.shtml|title=长江电力披露2024年发电量完成情况|date=January 7, 2025|access-date=January 11, 2025|archive-date=January 12, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112200927/https://m.bjx.com.cn/mnews/20250107/1421436.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|- style="background:#ccf;"
|}
[[File:Three gorges dam annual power output SVG.svg|lang=en|thumb|Three Gorges Dam annual power output]]
[[File:Yangtze River flow rate at TGD site.JPG|thumb|Yangtze River flow rate comparing to the dam intake capacity]]
[[File:Three Gorges Dam Installed Units and TWh Over Years.png|thumb|Three Gorges Dam Installed Units and Annual Electricity Production Over Years (2003–2023)]]
By August 16, 2011, the plant had generated 500&nbsp;TWh of electricity.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=October 2, 2011 | df=mdy-all | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=49662 | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡电站持续安稳运行累计发电突破5000亿千瓦时 | publisher=ctgpc.com.cn | access-date=August 28, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002055755/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/xwzx/news.php?mnewsid=49662 | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=February 8, 2009 | title=The 26 units of the left and right shore power stations of the Three Gorges Project were all put into commercial operation. | publisher=CRI online | date=October 30, 2008 | access-date=December 6, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208223653/http://gb.cri.cn/18824/2008/10/30/2945s2302630.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程左右岸电站26台机组全部投入商业运行 – 中国报道 – 国际在线 | url=http://gb.cri.cn/18824/2008/10/30/2945s2302630.htm | url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2008 it generated 10.3&nbsp;TWh of electricity, its first month over 10&nbsp;TWh.<ref>{{cite web | publisher=China Three Gorges Project Corporation | date=August 15, 2008 | access-date=December 6, 2008 | language=zh | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | script-title=zh:三峡电站月发电量首过百亿千瓦时 | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29583 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207081848/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29583 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> On June 30, 2009, after the river flow rate increased to over 24,000&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup>/s, all 28 generators were switched on, producing only 16,100&nbsp;MW because the head available during flood season is insufficient.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-06/30/content_16958373.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡电站26台发电机组投产后首次满负荷发电 | trans-title=The 26 generating units of the Three Gorges Power Station are fully loaded for the first time since being put into operation | date=June 30, 2009 | agency=Xinhua News Agency | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705164446/http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-06/30/content_16958373.htm | archive-date=July 5, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> During an August 2009 flood, the plant first reached its maximum output for a short period.<ref name="ctgpc2">{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=35674 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | publisher=Ctgpc.com.cn | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908154513/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=35674 | archive-date=September 8, 2011 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the November to May dry season, power output is limited by the river's flow rate, as seen in the diagrams on the right. When there is enough flow, power output is limited by plant generating capacity. The maximum power-output curves were calculated based on the average flow rate at the dam site, assuming the water level is 175&nbsp;m and the plant gross efficiency is 90.15%. The actual power output in 2008 was obtained based on the monthly electricity sent to the grid.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=January 30, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url=http://www.sgcc.com.cn/dwxx/qydwyxqk/lsyxqk/default.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:国家电网公司-主要水电厂来水和运行情况 | publisher=Sgcc.com.cn | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130040313/http://www.sgcc.com.cn/dwxx/qydwyxqk/lsyxqk/default.shtml | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=July 1, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url=http://www.sgcc.com.cn/dwxx/sgddxx/gdzdxxxt/default.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:国家电网公司-国调直调信息系统 | publisher=Sgcc.com.cn | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090701021527/http://www.sgcc.com.cn/dwxx/sgddxx/gdzdxxxt/default.shtml | url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Three Gorges Dam reached its design-maximum reservoir water level of {{cvt|175|m|0}} for the first time on October 26, 2010, in which the intended annual power-generation capacity of 84.7 TWh was realized.<ref name="Xin2010">{{cite web | df=mdy-all | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-10/26/c_13575583.htm | title=Water level at Three Gorges Project raised to full capacity | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029180847/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-10/26/c_13575583.htm | url-status=dead | agency=Xinhua News Agency | archive-date=October 29, 2010}}</ref> It has a combined generating capacity of 22.5 gigawatts and a designed annual generation capacity of 88.2 TWh. In 2012, the dam's 32 generating units generated a record 98.1 TWh of electricity, which accounts for 14% of China's total hydro generation.<ref>{{cite news | archive-date=January 15, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115071329/http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2013/january/chinas-three-gorges-sets-new-production-record.html | url=http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2013/january/chinas-three-gorges-sets-new-production-record.html | title=China's Three Gorges sets new production record | work=Hydro World | date=January 10, 2013 | access-date=January 10, 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Between 2012 (first year with all 32 generating units operating) and 2021, the dam generated an average of 97.22 TWh of electricity per year, higher than Itaipu dam's average of 89.22 TWh of electricity per year during the same period. Due to the extensive 2020 monsoon season rainfall, the annual production reached ~112 TWh that year, which broke the previous world record of annual production by Itaipu Dam equal to ~103 TWh.<ref name=wr20 />

=== Distribution ===
The [[State Grid Corporation]] and [[China Southern Power Grid]] paid a flat rate of ¥250&nbsp;per MWh (US$35.7) until July 2, 2008. Since then, the price has varied by province, from ¥228.7 to ¥401.8&nbsp;per MWh. Higher-paying customers, such as [[Shanghai]], receive priority.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29096 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | publisher=Ctgpc.com.cn | date=July 4, 2008 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210072449/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29096 | archive-date=February 10, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> Nine provinces and two cities consume power from the dam.<ref name="chinagate">{{cite news | archive-date=October 10, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010083924/http://en.chinagate.cn/reports/2007-12/05/content_9348644.htm | url=http://en.chinagate.cn/reports/2007-12/05/content_9348644.htm | title=Construction of the Three Gorges Project and Ecological Protection | publisher=Chinagate.com.cn | date=November 27, 2007 | access-date=March 24, 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Power distribution and transmission infrastructure cost about 34.387&nbsp;billion yuan. Construction was completed in December 2007, one year ahead of schedule.<ref>{{cite news | archive-date=December 21, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221212404/http://www.sdpc.gov.cn/xwfb/t20071220_180047.htm | url=http://www.sdpc.gov.cn/xwfb/t20071220_180047.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=National Development and Reform Commission | date=December 20, 2007 | access-date=December 20, 2007 | language=zh | url-status=live}}</ref>

Power is distributed over multiple 500 kV transmission lines. Three [[direct current]] (DC) lines to the East China Grid carry 7,200 MW: Three Gorges – Shanghai (3,000 MW), [[HVDC Three Gorges – Changzhou]] (3,000 MW), and [[HVDC Gezhouba – Shanghai]] (1,200 MW). The [[alternating current]] (AC) lines to the Central China Grid have a total capacity of 12,000 MW. The DC transmission line [[HVDC Three Gorges – Guangdong]] to the South China Grid has a capacity of 3,000 MW.<ref name="abb">{{cite web | url=http://www.abb.com/cawp/gad02181/f5933693d1a92404c1256d8800401782.aspx | title=Three Gorges, China | publisher=ABB Group | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013121502/http://www.abb.com/cawp/gad02181/f5933693d1a92404c1256d8800401782.aspx | archive-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref>

The dam was expected to provide 10% of China's power. However, electricity demand has increased more quickly than previously projected. Even fully operational and despite its size, on average, it supplies less than 1.0% of electricity demand in China in the year of 2024 when the Chinese electricity demand reached 9,852.1 TWh.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.csee.net.cn/data/2006/0525/article_864.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=[[Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering]] | date=May 25, 2006 | access-date=May 16, 2007 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429120935/http://www.csee.net.cn/data/2006/0525/article_864.htm | archive-date=April 29, 2007 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>http://www.xinhuanet.com/energy/20250121/a76978d06b5b47c498739c0a0ea79cde/c.html</ref>

== Environmental impact ==
[[File:ThreeGorgesDam-Landsat7.jpg|thumb|Satellite map showing areas flooded by the Three Gorges reservoir. Compare November 7, 2006 (above) with April 17, 1987 (below).]]
[[File:Three Gorges Reservoir flood mark.jpg|thumb|Flood mark on Yangtze river]]

=== Emissions ===
According to the [[National Development and Reform Commission]], 366&nbsp;grams of coal would produce 1&nbsp;kWh of electricity during 2006.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ndrc.gov.cn/zjgx/t20070307_120213.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=NDRC | date=March 7, 2007 | access-date=May 15, 2007 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310192319/http://www.ndrc.gov.cn/zjgx/t20070307_120213.htm | archive-date=March 10, 2007 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> From 2003 to 2007, power production equaled that of 84&nbsp;million tonnes of standard coal.<ref name="Xinhuar2007023">{{cite news | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207175725/http://news.stockstar.com/info/darticle.aspx?id=GA,20080708,00069957&columnid=76 | url=http://news.stockstar.com/info/darticle.aspx?id=GA,20080708,00069957&columnid=76 | language=zh | script-title=zh:长江电力(600900)2008年上半年发电量完成情况公告 – 证券之星 | agency=Xinhua News Agency | date=January 23, 2007 | access-date=August 9, 2008 | trans-title=The Three Gorges sluice year transported goods volume may amount to 100,000,000&nbsp;tons | url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Erosion and sedimentation ===
Two hazards are uniquely identified with the dam:<ref>{{cite web | access-date=October 8, 2019 | archive-date=November 25, 1996 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961125064330/http://earthtimes.org/chinanov11.htm | url=http://earthtimes.org/chinanov11.htm | title=Environmental controversy over the Three Gorges Dam |year=1996 | last=Topping | first=Audrey Ronning | url-status=dead | website=The Earth Times }}</ref> that sedimentation projections are not agreed upon, and that the dam sits on a [[seismic fault]]. At current levels, 80% of the land in the area is eroding, depositing about 40&nbsp;million tons of [[sediment]] into the [[Yangtze]] annually.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Because the flow is slower above the dam, much of this sediment settles there instead of flowing downstream, and there is less sediment downstream.

The absence of [[silt]] downstream has three effects:
* Some hydrologists expect downstream riverbanks to become more vulnerable to flooding.<ref>{{cite news | archive-date=May 20, 2008 | url=http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20070829/chw110745.asp?source=baidu | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡大坝之忧 | trans-title=Concern about the Three Gorges Dam | url-status=dead | work=The Wall Street Journal | date=August 31, 2007 | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520235856/http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20070829/chw110745.asp?source=baidu}}</ref>
* Shanghai, more than {{cvt|1600|km}} away, rests on a massive sedimentary plain. The "arriving silt{{snd}}so long as it does arrive{{snd}}strengthens the bed on which Shanghai is built&nbsp;... the less the tonnage of arriving sediment the more vulnerable is this biggest of Chinese cities to inundation".<ref>{{cite book | title=The River at the Center of the World | publisher=Henry Holt & Co | last=Winchester | first=Simon | author-link=Simon Winchester | page=228 | isbn=978-0-8050-5508-5 | place=New York | title-link=The River at the Center of the World | year=1998}}</ref>
* [[Benthic]] sediment buildup causes biological damage and reduces aquatic [[biodiversity]].<ref>{{cite book | first1=Henrik | first2=Koen | last1=Segers | title=The River at the Center of the World | publisher=Springer | last2=Martens | year=2005 | page=73 | isbn=978-1-4020-3745-0}}</ref>

=== Landslides ===
Erosion in the reservoir, induced by rising water, causes frequent major landslides that have led to noticeable disturbance in the reservoir surface, including two incidents in May 2009 when somewhere between {{convert|20000|and|50000|m3|cuyd}} of material plunged into the flooded Wuxia Gorge of the [[Wu River (Yangtze River)|Wu River]].<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=May 23, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523125339/http://english.cri.cn/6909/2009/05/19/45s485830.htm | url=http://english.cri.cn/6909/2009/05/19/45s485830.htm | title=No Casualties in Three Gorges Dam Landslide | work=Xinhua News Network | publisher=CRIEnglish.com | access-date=June 3, 2009 | last=Yang | first=Sung | url-status=dead}}</ref> In the first four months of 2010, there were 97 significant landslides.<ref name="landslides">{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7140217.ece | title=Chinese dam causes quakes and landslides | work=The Times | date=May 30, 2010 | access-date=January 25, 2011 | archive-date=September 18, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918061954/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7140217.ece | last=Richard Jones | first=Michael Sheridan | location=London | url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Waste management ===
[[File:Maoping-Drinking-water-source-protection-area-4937.JPG|thumb|[[Zigui County]] seat [[source water protection]] area in [[Maoping, Hubei|Maoping Town]], a few kilometres upstream of the dam]]
[[File:Collecting Garbage at Three Gorges Dam.jpg|thumb|Collecting garbage at the dam's southeast corner]]
The dam catalyzed improved upstream [[wastewater]] treatment around [[Chongqing]] and its suburban areas. According to the [[Ministry of Ecology and Environment|Ministry of Environmental Protection]], as of April 2007, more than 50 new plants could treat 1.84&nbsp;million tonnes per day, 65% of the total need. About 32 landfills were added, which could handle 7,664.5&nbsp;tonnes of solid waste every day.<ref name="Xinhua20080503">{{cite news | url=http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2008-05/03/content_13148105.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:湖北省三峡治污项目三年内投入约23.5亿元 | agency=Xinhua News Agency | date=April 19, 2007 | access-date=August 9, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207035139/http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2008-05/03/content_13148105.htm | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | df=mdy-all | trans-title=In the Hubei Province Three Gorges anti-pollution project three years invest the approximately 2,350,000,000 Yuan | url-status=dead}}</ref> Over one&nbsp;billion tons of wastewater are released annually into the river,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book | display-authors=etal | first1=Dai | first2=John G. | first3=Michael R | last1=Qing | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nX6TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 | title=The River Dragon Has Come!: Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Yangtze River and Its People | publisher=Routledge | last2=Thibodeau | last3=Williams | year=2016 | page=160 | isbn=978-1-315-50276-2}}</ref> which was more likely to be swept away before the reservoir was created. This has left the water stagnant, polluted and murky.<ref name="landslides" />

=== Forest cover ===
In 1997, the Three Gorges area had 10% forestation, down from 20% in the 1950s.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

Research by the [[United Nations]] [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] suggested that the Asia-Pacific region would gain about {{cvt|6000|km2}} of forest by 2008. That is a significant change from the {{cvt|13000|km2}} net loss of forest each year in the 1990s. This is largely due to [[Reforestation in China|China's large reforestation effort]]. This accelerated after the [[1998 Yangtze River floods]] convinced the government that it should restore tree cover, especially in the Yangtze's basin upstream of the Three Gorges Dam.<ref>{{cite news | access-date=October 8, 2019 | url=https://www.economist.com/news/2007/11/15/falling-here-rising-there | title=Falling here, rising there | newspaper=The Economist | date=November 15, 2007 | last=Collins | first=Peter | issn=0013-0613 | url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Wildlife ===
Concerns about the dam's impact on wildlife predate the National People's Congress's approval in 1992.<ref name="Li">{{cite thesis | url=https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/312 | title=Environmental planning of large-scale water projects: The Three Gorges Dam case, China | publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University |year=1989 | last=Li | first=Long | type=MA thesis}}</ref> This region has long been known for its rich biodiversity. It is home to 6,388 plant species, which belong to 238 families and 1,508 genera. Of these species, 57 are endangered.<ref name="Wu Jianguo">{{cite journal | first1=J. | title=Three-Gorges Dam – Experiment in Habitat Fragmentation? | last2=Huang | first2=J. | last3=Han | first3=X. | last4=Xie | first4=Z. | last5=Gao | first5=X. | journal=Science | year=2003 | volume=300 | issue=5623 | pages=1239–1240 | doi=10.1126/science.1083312 | last1=Wu | pmid=12764179| s2cid=128845721 }}</ref> These rare species are also used as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicines.<ref name="chetham">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K9XVZR-o45EC | title=Before the Deluge: The Vanishing World of the Yangtze's Three Gorges | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | last=Chetham | first=Deirdre | year=2002 | isbn=978-1-4039-6428-1}}</ref> The proportion of forested area in the region surrounding the Three Gorges Dam dropped from 20% in 1950 to less than 10% as of 2002,<ref name=chetham /> adversely affecting all plant species there. The region also provides habitats to hundreds of freshwater and terrestrial animal species.<ref name="Wu Jianguo" /> Freshwater fish are especially affected by dams due to changes in the water temperature and flow regime. Many other fish are injured in the hydroelectric plants' turbine blades. This is particularly detrimental to the region's ecosystem because the Yangtze River basin is home to 361 different fish species and accounts for 27% of China's endangered freshwater fish species.<ref>{{cite journal | first=P. | url=http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/152342/9612 | title=Three-Gorges Dam: Risk to Ancient Fish | journal=Science | year=2003 | volume=302 | issue=5648 | pages=1149b–1151 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.302.5648.1149b | last=Xie | pmid=14615514 | s2cid=31587732 | access-date=October 8, 2019 | archive-date=October 8, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008091312/http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/152342/9612 | url-status=dead | url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other aquatic species have been endangered by the dam, particularly the baiji, or [[Chinese river dolphin]],<ref name="autogenerated1" /> now extinct. In fact, Chinese Government scholars even claim that the Three Gorges Dam directly caused the extinction of the baiji.<ref name="TheAge_101307">{{cite web | access-date=October 8, 2019 | url=https://www.theage.com.au/world/three-gorges-dam-could-be-huge-disaster-20070927-ge5x0x.html | title=Three Gorges Dam 'could be huge disaster' | date=September 27, 2007 | last=Toy | first=Mary-Anne | language=en | website=The Age}}</ref>

Of the 3,000 to 4,000 remaining [[critically endangered]] [[Siberian crane]], many spend the winter in wetlands that the Three Gorges Dam will destroy.<ref>{{cite news | archive-date=December 6, 2000 | url=http://american.edu/TED/threedam.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam Case Study | publisher=American University, The School of International Service | access-date=January 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001206061700/http://www.american.edu/ted/THREEDAM.htm | url-status=live}}</ref> Populations of the [[Yangtze sturgeon]] are guaranteed to be "negatively affected" by the dam.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.flathatnews.com/news/1304/three-gorges-dam-a-blessing-or-an-environmental-disaster | title=Three Gorges Dam: A Blessing or an Environmental Disaster? | publisher=[[The Flat Hat]] | date=October 2, 2007 | access-date=June 21, 2015 | last=Theuerkauf | first=Ethan | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222061320/http://www.flathatnews.com/news/1304/three-gorges-dam-a-blessing-or-an-environmental-disaster | archive-date=February 22, 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2022 the [[Chinese paddlefish]] was declared extinct, with the last confirmed sighting in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese Paddlefish |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/ja/species/18428/146104283 |website=iucnredlist.org |publisher=[[IUCN Red List]] |access-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516041907/https://www.iucnredlist.org/ja/species/18428/146104283 |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Terrestrial impact ===
In 2005, NASA scientists calculated that the shift of water mass stored by the dams would increase the total length of the [[Earth]]'s day by 0.06&nbsp;[[microsecond]]s and make the Earth slightly more round in the middle and flat on the [[Geographical pole|poles]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=716 | title=NASA Details Earthquake Effects on the Earth | access-date=November 10, 2017 | archive-date=August 10, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810053619/https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=716 | url-status=live | website=NASA/JPL}}</ref> A study published in 2022 in the journal [[Open Geosciences]] suggests that the change of reservoir water level affects the gravity field in western Sichuan, which in turn affects the seismicity in that area.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yaxiang |last2=Cao |first2=Ziyi |last3=Pang |first3=Zhaojun |last4=Liu |first4=Yan |last5=Tian |first5=Jiawei |last6=Li |first6=Juan |last7=Yin |first7=Lirong |last8=Zheng |first8=Wenfeng |last9=Liu |first9=Shan |title=Influence of Three Gorges Dam on earthquakes based on GRACE gravity field |journal=Open Geosciences |date=January 1, 2022 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=453–461 |doi=10.1515/geo-2022-0350 |bibcode=2022OGeo...14..350W |s2cid=248724077 |language=en |issn=2391-5447|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Floods, agriculture, industry ==
[[File:2020 Three Gorges Dam water level.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Water level and inflow during the [[2020 China floods]]]]
An important function of the dam is to control flooding, which is a major problem for the seasonal river of the Yangtze. Millions of people live downstream of the dam, with many large, important cities like [[Wuhan]], [[Nanjing]], and [[Shanghai]] located adjacent to the river. Large areas of farmland and China's most important industrial area are situated beside the river.

The reservoir's flood storage capacity is {{convert|22|km3|cumi e6acre.ft|lk=out|abbr=unit}}. This capacity will reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every 10 years to once every 100&nbsp;years. The dam is expected to minimize the effect of even a "super" flood.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=July 19, 2011 | url=http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/1039/60370/62598/63180/4385148.html | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程的防洪作用将提前两年实现-经济-人民网 | url-status=live | work=People's Daily | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719143742/http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/1039/60370/62598/63180/4385148.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=December 25, 2007 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20071225105726/http://www.chn-consulate-sapporo.or.jp/chn/ztxw/t252626.htm | url=http://www.chn-consulate-sapporo.or.jp/chn/ztxw/t252626.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程防洪、通航、发电三大效益提前全面发挥 | publisher=Chn-consulate-sapporo.or.jp | date=May 16, 2006 | access-date=August 1, 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[1954 Yangtze floods|The river flooded in 1954]] over an area of {{cvt|193000|km2|sqmi|-2}}, killing 33,169 people and forcing almost 18.9&nbsp;million people to move. The flood waters covered Wuhan, a city of eight million people, for over three months, and the [[Jingguang Railway]] was out of service for more than 100&nbsp;days.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=July 24, 2010 | url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/jinji/222/10814/10824/10831/20030529/1003614.html | title=39.1931, 1935, 1954, 1998 年长江流域发生的4次大洪水造成了怎样的洪水灾害?? | url-status=live | work=People's Daily | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724072129/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/jinji/222/10814/10824/10831/20030529/1003614.html}}</ref> The 1954 flood carried {{convert|50|km3}} of water. The dam could only divert the water above [[Chenglingji]], leaving {{cvt|30|to|40|km3|cumi}} to be diverted.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgZgQgAACAAJ | title=Yangtze! Yangtze! | publisher=Earthscan | last=Dai | first=Qing | year=1994 | page=184 | isbn=978-1-85383-187-4}}</ref> The dam cannot protect against some of the large tributaries downstream, including the [[Xiang River|Xiang]], [[Zi River|Zishui]], [[Yuan River|Yuanshui]], [[Lishui River|Lishui]], [[Hanshui]], and [[Gan River|Gan]].<ref>([http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2004/1480/pdf/SdF-2002-1f1.pdf Consequences of the Three Gorges Project, in German]</ref>

[[1998 China floods|In 1998, a flood in the same area]] caused billions of dollars' worth of damage, when {{cvt|2039|km2|sqmi|0}} of farmland were flooded. The flood affected more than 2.3&nbsp;million people, killing 1,526.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sxslsn/index.php?mClassId=003000 | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=CTGPC | date=April 20, 2002 | access-date=June 3, 2007 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407193356/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sxslsn/index.php?mClassId=003000 | archive-date=April 7, 2007 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> In early August 2009, the largest flood in five years passed through the dam site. During this flood, the dam limited the water flow to less than {{Convert|40000|m3/s|e6ft3/s|abbr=unit}} per second, raising the upstream water level from {{cvt|145.13|m}} on August 1, to {{cvt|152.88|m}} on August 8. A full {{cvt|4.27|km3}} of flood water was captured and the river flow was cut by as much as {{cvt|15000|m3}} per second.<ref name="ctgpc2" />

The dam discharges its reservoir during the dry season every year, between December and March.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=April 22, 2009 | url=http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-02/18/content_1235518.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:经过不懈努力三峡枢纽主体工程建设任务提前完成 | publisher=Gov.cn | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422180457/http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-02/18/content_1235518.htm | url-status=live}}</ref> This increases the flow rate of the river downstream, providing fresh water for agricultural and industrial usage, and improving shipping conditions. The water level upstream drops from {{cvt|175|to|145|m}},<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-02/19/content_15732434.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡水库可如期消落至145米汛限水位 | trans-title=The Three Gorges Reservoir can drop to the flood limit water level of 145 meters as scheduled | date=February 19, 2009 | agency=Xinhua News Agency | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228112801/http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/2009-02/19/content_15732434.htm | archive-date=February 28, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> in preparation for the rainy season. The water also powers the [[Gezhouba Dam]] downstream.

Since the filling of the reservoir in 2003, the Three Gorges Dam has supplied an extra {{cvt|11|km3}} of fresh water to downstream cities and farms over the course of the dry season.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=35412 | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国长江三峡工程开发总公司 | publisher=Ctgpc.com.cn | date=August 7, 2009 | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728162316/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=35412 | archive-date=July 28, 2011 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Navigation}}

During the [[2010 China floods|South China floods in July 2010]], inflows at the Three Gorges Dam reached a peak of {{Convert|70000|m3/s|e6ft3/s|abbr=unit}}, exceeding the peak inflow during the [[1998 Yangtze River floods]]. The dam's reservoir rose nearly {{cvt|3|m|ft}} in 24 hours and reduced the outflow to {{Convert|40000|m3/s|e6ft3/s|abbr=unit}} in discharges downstream, preventing any significant impact on the middle and lower river.<ref>{{cite web | access-date=October 8, 2019 | archive-date=July 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723073101/http://www.easyseosolution.com/blog/archives/910 | url=http://www.easyseosolution.com/blog/archives/910 | title=Three Gorges Dam will meet the first large-scale flood since being completed | date=July 10, 2010 | url-status=dead | website=easyseosolution.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | access-date=July 20, 2010 | archive-date=July 22, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722191704/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-07-20/090920716433.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh: 三峡迎来7万立方米/秒特大洪峰 规模超1998年 | trans-title=The Three Gorges ushered in 70,000 cubic meters / sec | url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-07-20/090920716433.shtml | publisher=SINA Corporation | url-status=live}}</ref>

== Navigating the dam ==
=== Locks ===
[[File:Three gorges dam locks view from vantage point.jpg|thumb|Ship locks for river traffic to bypass the Three Gorges Dam, May 2004]]
[[File:TGP ship locksat Yangtse River.jpg|thumb|Construction of TGP ship locks at Yangtze River, September 1996]]
[[File:Three Gorges dam locks and bridge.jpg|thumb|The other end of Three Gorges Dam lock. Note the bridge in the background.]]
The installation of [[Lock (water navigation)|ship locks]] is intended to increase river shipping from ten&nbsp;million to 100&nbsp;million tonnes annually; as a result transportation costs will be cut between 30 and 37%. Shipping will become safer, since the gorges are notoriously dangerous to navigate.<ref name="Xinhuar2007023" />

There are two series of ship locks installed near the dam ({{coord|30|50|12|N|111|1|10|E|display=inline|region:CN-62_type:landmark}}). Each of them is made up of five stages, with transit time at around four hours. Maximum vessel size is 10,000&nbsp;tons.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/logistics/?cat=88 | title=Yangtze as a vital logistics aid | work=China Economic Review | date=May 30, 2007 | access-date=June 3, 2007 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807124521/http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/logistics/?cat=88 | archive-date=August 7, 2010 | url-status=dead}}</ref> The locks are 280&nbsp;m long, 35&nbsp;m wide, and 5&nbsp;m deep (918 × 114 × 16.4&nbsp;ft).<ref name="Moafs20020420">{{cite web | url=http://www.moafs.org/newsletter/April%202002/3gorgestats.htm | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=Missouri Chapter American Fisheries Society | date=April 20, 2002 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118193954/http://www.moafs.org/newsletter/April%202002/3gorgestats.htm | archive-date=November 18, 2008 | df=mdy | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | df=mdy | url=http://www.ctgpc.com/benefifs/benefifs_a_5.htm | title=Its Buildings with Biggest Indices | publisher=China Three Gorges Project | access-date=November 23, 2010 | url-status=dead | year=2002 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121012426/http://www.ctgpc.com/benefifs/benefifs_a_5.htm | archive-date=November 21, 2008}}</ref> That is {{cvt|30|m}} longer than those on the [[St Lawrence Seaway]], but half as deep. Before the dam was constructed, the maximum freight capacity at the Three Gorges site was 18.0&nbsp;million tonnes per year. From 2004 to 2007, a total of 198&nbsp;million tonnes of freight passed through the locks. The freight capacity of the river increased six&nbsp;times and the cost of shipping was reduced by 25%. Originally, the total capacity of the ship locks was expected to reach 100&nbsp;million tonnes per year.<ref name=Xinhuar2007023 /> In 2022, their cargo turnover reached 159.65 million tons, with an annual increase of 6% over the previous few years.<ref name=Xinhuar20230222>{{cite web
|url         = https://english.news.cn/20230102/b41207d27e18409bbf0e47637e79e0a3/c.html
|title       = Shipping throughput of Three Gorges Dam hits new record
|publisher   = Xinhua – China, World, Business, Sports, Photos and Video English
|access-date  = February 22, 2023
}}</ref>

These locks are [[Lock gates#Special cases|staircase locks]], whereby inner lock gate pairs serve as both the upper gate of the chamber below and the lower gate of the chamber above. The [[Lock gates#Variations|gates]] are the vulnerable hinged type, which, if damaged, could temporarily render the entire flight unusable. As there are separate sets of locks for upstream and downstream traffic, this system is more water efficient than bi-directional staircase locks.

=== Ship lift ===
{{Anchor|shiplift}}
[[File:Three Gorges Dam (12280456164).jpg|thumb|The ''ship lift'', a kind of elevator, can lift vessels of up to 3,000 tonnes in a fraction of the time required to transit the staircase locks.]]
In addition to the canal locks, there is a [[Boat lift|ship lift]], a kind of elevator for vessels. The ship lift can lift ships of up to 3,000&nbsp;tons.<ref name=shipcom /><ref name="Bbc2005050">{{cite news | df=mdy | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4512015.stm | title=China's west seeks to impress investors | publisher=BBC | date=May 4, 2005 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | last=MacKie | first=Nick | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081124143445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4512015.stm | archive-date=November 24, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> The vertical distance traveled is {{cvt|113|m}},<ref name="ChinaThreeGorgesProject">{{cite web | url=http://www.ctgpc.com/benefifs/benefifs_a_5.htm | title=Its Buildings with Biggest Indices | publisher=China Three Gorges Project | access-date=November 23, 2010 | year=2002 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023064744/http://www.ctgpc.com/benefifs/benefifs_a_5.htm | archive-date=October 23, 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref> and the size of the ship lift's basin is {{cvt|120|x|18|x|3.5|m}}. The ship lift takes 30 to 40 minutes to transit, as opposed to the three to four hours for stepping through the locks.<ref name="Bbc050504">{{cite news | archive-date=November 24, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081124143445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4512015.stm | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4512015.stm | title=China's west seeks to impress investors | publisher=BBC | date=May 4, 2005 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | last=MacKie | first=Nick | url-status=live}}</ref> One complicating factor is that the water level can vary dramatically. The ship lift must work even if water levels vary by {{cvt|12|m}} on the lower side, and {{cvt|30|m}} on the upper side.

The ship lift's design uses a helical gear system, to climb or descend a toothed rack.<ref name=Lahmeyer2013 />

The ship lift was not yet complete when the rest of the project was officially opened on May 20, 2006.<ref name="TaipeiTimes20080521">{{cite news | url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/21/2003309291 | title=Three Gorges Dam ready to go | url-status=dead | work=The Taipei Times | date=May 21, 2006 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203124020/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/21/2003309291 | archive-date=December 3, 2008 | df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="CbsNews20060520">{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-completes-three-gorges-dam/ | title=China Completes Three Gorges Dam | publisher=[[CBS News]] | date=May 20, 2006 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718234115/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/20/world/main1638180.shtml | archive-date=July 18, 2008 | df=mdy | url-status=live}}</ref>
In November 2007, it was reported in the local media that construction of the ship lift started in October 2007.<ref name="CnHubei20071110">{{cite news | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207035944/http://news.cnhubei.com/hbrb/hbrbsglk/hbrb01/200711/t136849.shtml | url=http://news.cnhubei.com/hbrb/hbrbsglk/hbrb01/200711/t136849.shtml | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡升船机开工建设_荆楚网 | publisher=CnHubei | date=November 10, 2007 | access-date=August 9, 2008 | trans-title=Three Gorges ship lift operation construction | url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 2012, ''[[Xinhua]]'' reported that the four towers intended to support the ship lift were nearly complete.<ref name="Xinhua2012-02-27">{{cite news | url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7741118.html | title=Tower columns for Three Gorges shiplift to be built | agency=[[Xinhua News Agency]] | date=February 27, 2012 | location=Yichang, Hubei Province | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927235122/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7741118.html | archive-date=September 27, 2013 | quote=The entire shiplift will be completed in 2015. | url-status=dead}}</ref> The report said that by that time, the towers had reached {{cvt|189|m}} of the anticipated {{cvt|195|m}}.

As of May 2014, the ship lift was expected to be completed by July 2015.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=October 16, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016110932/http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1519185/three-gorges-dam-exceeds-cargo-target-set-2030 | url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1519185/three-gorges-dam-exceeds-cargo-target-set-2030 | title=Three Gorges Dam exceeds cargo target set for 2030 | work=South China Morning Post | date=May 23, 2014 | access-date=October 12, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> It was tested in December 2015 and announced complete in January 2016.<ref name=shipcom /><ref name=ChinaEconomicNet2016-02-17 /> [[Lahmeyer]], the German firm that designed the ship lift, said it will take a vessel less than an hour to transit the lift.<ref name=Lahmeyer2013 /> An article in Steel Construction says the actual time of the lift will be 21 minutes.<ref name=SteelConstruction2009 /> It says that the expected dimensions of the {{convert|3000|tonne|e6kg|0|abbr=unit}} passenger vessels the ship lift's basin was designed to carry will be {{convert|84.5|x|17.2|x|2.65|m}}. The moving mass (including counterweights) is 34,000 tonnes.

The trials of elevator finished in July 2016, the first cargo ship was lifted on July 15; the lift time comprised 8 minutes.<ref name="slt1">{{cite news | url=http://www.ctgpc.com/news/news1.php?NewsId=96484 | title=Phase I Field Trial of Ship Lift at Three Gorges Dam Successfully Ends | publisher=China Three Gorges Project | date=August 14, 2016 | access-date=August 14, 2016 | language=en | archive-url=https://archive.today/20160814114620/http://www.ctgpc.com/news/news1.php?NewsId=96484 | archive-date=August 14, 2016 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Shanghai Daily]]'' reported that the first operational use of the lift was on September 18, 2016, when limited "operational testing" of the lift began.<ref name=ShanghaiDaily2016-09-18 />

=== Portage railways ===
Plans also exist for the construction of short [[portage railway]]s bypassing the dam area altogether. Two short rail lines, one on each side of the river, are to be constructed. The {{convert|88|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} northern portage railway ({{lang|zh|北岸翻坝铁路}}) will run from the [[Taipingxi]] port facility ({{lang|zh|太平溪港}}) on the northern side of the Yangtze, just upstream from the dam, via [[Yichang East Railway Station]] to the Baiyang Tianjiahe port facility in Baiyang Town ([[:zh:白洋镇|白洋镇]]), below Yichang.<ref name=mayor /> The {{convert|95|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} southern portage railway ({{lang|zh|南岸翻坝铁路}}) will run from [[Maoping, Hubei|Maoping]] (upstream of the dam) via [[Yichang South Railway Station]] to [[Zhicheng]] (on the [[Jiaozuo–Liuzhou Railway]]).<ref name=mayor />

In late 2012, preliminary work started along both future railway routes.<ref name=Qq2012-10-12 />

== Displacement of residents ==
During planning, it was estimated that 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,350 villages would be partially or completely flooded by the reservoir,<ref>{{cite web |date=August 22, 2008 |script-title=zh:三峡四期移民工程通过阶段性验收 |url=http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29626 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207081858/http://www.ctgpc.com.cn/sx/news.php?mNewsId=29626 |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |access-date=December 6, 2008 |publisher=China Three Gorges Project Corporation |language=zh |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite news |date=July 24, 2008 |script-title=zh:三峡库区城镇完成拆迁 |language=zh |trans-title=Towns in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, Demolition Completed |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20080724/bch094619.asp?source=whatnews3 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206151424/http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20080724/bch094619.asp?source=whatnews3 |archive-date=December 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Three Gorges Dam |url=http://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/three-gorges-dam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505160126/http://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/three-gorges-dam |archive-date=May 5, 2015 |access-date=May 5, 2015 |publisher=International Rivers}}</ref> amounting to roughly 1.5% of Hubei's 60.3&nbsp;million people and [[Chongqing]] Municipality's 31.44&nbsp;million people.<ref name="MWC_News_101307">{{cite news |date=October 13, 2007 |title=China dam to displace millions more |publisher=MWC News |url=http://mwcnews.net/content/view/17341&Itemid=1 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014132058/http://mwcnews.net/content/view/17341%26Itemid%3D1 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> These people were moved to new homes by the Chinese government, which considered the displacement justified by the flood protection provided for the communities downstream of the dam.<ref>{{cite web | access-date=February 9, 2017 | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042028/http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/2012_Hydropower_Roadmap.pdf | url=http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/2012_Hydropower_Roadmap.pdf | title=2012 Hydropower Roadmap | page=37 | url-status=live | website=iea.org}}</ref>

Between 2002 and 2005, Canadian photographer [[Edward Burtynsky]] documented the impact of the project on the surrounding areas, including the town of [[Wanzhou]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edward Burtynsky: Three Gorges Dam Project |url=https://mackenzie.art/edward-burtynsky-three-gorges-dam-project/ |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=MacKenzie Art Gallery |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Photographs: China |url=https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/photographs/china |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=Edward Burtynsky |language=en-US}}</ref> Other photographers who recorded the change include Chengdu-based Muge,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fletcher |first=Gem |title=Muge travels the Yangtze River, tenderly photographing communities displaced by flooding - 1854 Photography |url=https://www.1854.photography/2020/12/muge-travels-the-yangtze-river-tenderly-photographing-communities-displaced-by-flooding/ |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=1854.photography |language=en-GB}}</ref> Paris-based Zeng Nian (originally from Jiangsu),<ref>{{Cite web |last=jess |date=December 5, 2014 |title=Zeng Nian: Remembering the Three Gorges Dam |url=https://angkor-photo.com/zeng-nian-three-gorges-dam/ |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops |language=en-US}}</ref> and Israeli [[Nadav Kander]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dykstra |first=Jean |date=December 27, 2012 |title=Nadav Kander: Yangtze: The Long River |url=https://photographmag.com/articles/yangtze-the-long-river/ |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=Photographmag.com}}</ref> Living conditions deteriorated for many, and hundreds of thousands of people could not find work. The older generation was particularly affected, but younger generations benefited from the educational and career opportunities afforded by moving to large cities with new, modern companies and schools.<ref>Christoph Seeber, Lorenz King: ''Umsiedlungen am Yangtze – ein Erfolg? Ausmaß und Folgen des Landnutzungswandels in der Drei-Schluchten-Region.'' – Spiegel der Forschung 1/20: S. 50–63, 2010. [http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2010/7656/pdf/Sdf_2010_1_50_63.pdf ''Full text''] (PDF; 1,1&nbsp;MB)</ref>

Some 2007 reports claimed that Chongqing Municipality would encourage four million more people to move away from the dam to Chongqing's main urban area by 2020.<ref name="bbc12102007">{{cite news | archive-date=March 9, 2008 | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7042660.stm | title=Millions forced out by China dam | url-status=live | work=BBC News | date=October 12, 2007 | access-date=January 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309171612/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7042660.stm}}</ref><ref name="xinhua11102007">{{cite news | archive-date=October 16, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016223306/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/11/content_6864252.htm | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/11/content_6864252.htm | title=Millions more face relocation from Three Gorges Reservoir Area | agency=Xinhua News Agency | date=October 11, 2007 | access-date=January 20, 2008 | author=Wang Hongjiang | url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="xinhua26092007">{{cite news | archive-date=May 27, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527035410/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/26/content_6796234.htm | url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/26/content_6796234.htm | title=China warns of environmental "catastrophe" from Three Gorges Dam | agency=Xinhua News Agency | date=September 26, 2007 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | author=Jiang Yuxia | url-status=dead}}</ref> The municipal government asserted that the relocation was driven by urbanization, rather than a direct result of the dam project, and that the people involved included other areas of the municipality.<ref name="ccdv20071116">{{cite news | author1=Guo Jinjia | url=http://ccdv.people.com.cn/GB/66982/6537524.html | language=zh | script-title=zh:重庆澄清"三峡库区二次移民四百万"传闻 | url-status=dead | work=People's Daily | date=November 16, 2007 | access-date=April 10, 2011 | author2=Yang Shanyin | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119074251/http://ccdv.people.com.cn/GB/66982/6537524.html | archive-date=November 19, 2007 | df=mdy-all}}</ref>

By June 2008, China had moved 1.24&nbsp;million residents as far as [[Gaoyang, Hebei|Gaoyang]] in Hebei Province,<ref name="chinadaily2">{{cite news |author=Liang Chao |date=July 15, 2004 |title=More bid farewell to Three Gorges |work=China Daily |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/15/content_348413.htm |url-status=live |access-date=January 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204022708/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/15/content_348413.htm |archive-date=December 4, 2007}}</ref> and the moves concluded the following month.<ref name="autogenerated3" />

== Other effects ==
=== Cultural and history ===
The area which would fill with water behind the dam included locations with significant cultural history.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} The State Council authorized a ¥505 million archaeology salvage effort.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} Over the course of several years, archaeologists excavated 723 sites and conducted surface archaeology recovery missions at an additional 346 sites.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} Archaeologists recovered 200,000 artifacts of which 13,000 were considered as particularly historically or culturally notable.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} As part of this effort, the old Chongqing City Museum was replaced by the Chongqing China Sanxia Museum to house many of the recovered artifacts.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}}

Recovered structures that were too large for museums were moved upland to reconstruction districts (''fu jian qu''), which are outdoor museum parks. Recovered structures placed in such parks include temples, pavilions, houses, and bridges, among others.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}}

Some sites could not be moved because of their location, size, or design, such as the [[hanging coffins]] site high in the [[Shen Nong Stream|Shen Nong Gorge]], part of the cliffs.<ref name="Hogan">{{cite news | url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17946 | title=Shen Nong Gorge Hanging Coffins | publisher=The Megalithic Portal | access-date=January 20, 2008 | archive-date=June 10, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610104958/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17946 | author=C.Michael Hogan | editor=Andy Burnham | url-status=live}}</ref>

=== National security ===
A 2004 [[United States Department of Defense]] report stated that "Since Taipei cannot match Beijing’s ability to field offensive systems, proponents of strikes against the mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible [[Civilian victimization|threats to China's urban population]] or high-value targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military coercion."<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 6, 2009 | url=http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | title=Annual report on the military power of the People's Republic of China | publisher=[[US Department of Defense]] | date=2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806235538/http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartfiel |first1=Robert |last2=Job |first2=Brian L. |title=Raising the risks of war: defence spending trends and competitive arms processes in East Asia |journal=The Pacific Review |date=15 March 2007 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/09512740601133138}}</ref> In response, the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)|Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] criticized the U.S. report as exhibiting a "[[Cold War]] mentality harbouring evil intentions."<ref>{{cite web |title=China decries US advice for Taiwan |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |website=Al Jazeera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511094337/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=16 June 2004}}</ref><ref name=smh1764>{{cite web |title=China flexes its muscles over Taiwan |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511093955/https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=17 June 2004}}</ref> The [[People's Liberation Army]] Lieutenant General Liu Yuan cautioned that "[It] will not be able to stop war. It will have the exact opposite of the desired effect."<ref name=smh1764/> He also remarked that China would be "seriously on guard against threats from [[Taiwan independence]] terrorists."<ref name=smh1764/>

Sung Chao-wen, a senior advisory committee member of the Taiwanese [[Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China)|Ministry of Defense]], dismissed online comments about targeting the Three Gorges Dam with missiles as "ridiculous", saying that the dam's high-strength reinforced concrete could withstand a small nuclear weapon, any missile attack would have to penetrate multiple layers of ground and air defenses, and missiles would cause only minimal damage if they reached the dam at all.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |title=Can Taiwanese missiles destroy Three Gorges Dam? Only tiny dents: expert |website=Taiwan News |date=November 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227025640/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=301775 |title=台灣射彈攻擊三峽大壩？綠網民遭專家打臉直轟：軍事白癡！ |website=[[SET News]] |date=November 6, 2017}}</ref> Zhang Boting, deputy secretary-general of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering, said that the Three Gorges Dam was designed as a concrete [[gravity dam]] and would therefore be resistant to [[nuclear attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1928774/chinas-three-gorges-dam-can-survive-nuclear-attack-says-nations |title=China's Three Gorges Dam 'can survive nuclear attack' says nation's hydropower expert after academics raise safety concerns |website=South China Morning Post |date=March 22, 2016}}</ref>

Debate among Chinese scholars and analysts about the basic principles of China's [[no first use]] (NFU) of nuclear weapons policy includes questions about whether to add narrow exceptions, such as acts that produce catastrophic consequences equivalent to that of a nuclear attack, including attacks intended to destroy the Three Gorges Dam.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pan |first=Zhenqiang |title=Understanding: Chinese Nuclear Thinking |date=2016 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |location=Washington, DC |chapter=China's No First Use of Nuclear Weapons|jstor=resrep26903}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fravel |first1=M. Taylor |last2=Medeiros |first2=Evan S. |title=China's Search for Assured Retaliation: The Evolution of Chinese Nuclear Strategy and Force Structure |journal=International Security |date=October 2010 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=48–87 |doi=10.1162/ISEC_a_00016|hdl=1721.1/60548 |s2cid=38157268 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Nonetheless, supporters of the NFU policy maintain that foreign conventional attacks of such targets including the dam—with the intent to cause mass [[civilian casualties]] and economic losses—are highly improbable.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Li |first1=Nan |title=China's Evolving Nuclear Strategy: Will China Drop "No First Use?" |url=https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |date=12 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250515054935/https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |archive-date=15 May 2025}}</ref>

=== Structural integrity ===
Immediately after the reservoir was first filled, around 80 hairline cracks were observed in the dam's structure.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=July 22, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722004812/http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Local_Information/Asia/China/Three_Gorges_Dam.html | url=http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Local_Information/Asia/China/Three_Gorges_Dam.html | title=Three Gorges Dam | work=Electronic Data Interchange | publisher=Awesome Library | access-date=June 3, 2009 | last=Adams | first=Jerry | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=December 28, 2010 | url=http://www.loe.org/series/3gorges/ | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=Living On Earth | access-date=June 3, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228124416/http://www.loe.org/series/3gorges/ | url-status=live}}</ref> Still, an experts group gave the project overall a good-quality rating.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 15, 2009 | url=http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/zjxw/zjxw/zjftpxw/200907/t20090721_122359.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程质量处于良好受控状态 | publisher=Aqsiq.gov.cn | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815044212/http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/zjxw/zjxw/zjftpxw/200907/t20090721_122359.htm | url-status=live}}</ref> The 163,000 concrete units all passed quality testing, with normal [[Deformation (engineering)|deformation]] within design limits.

== Upstream dams ==
[[File:Yangtze longitudinal profile upstream.JPG|thumb|Longitudinal profile of upstream Yangtze River]]
In order to maximize the utility of the Three Gorges Dam and cut down on sedimentation from the [[Jinsha River]], the upper course of the Yangtze River, authorities are building a series of dams on the Jinsha, including the now completed [[Wudongde Dam|Wudongde]], [[Baihetan Dam|Baihetan]], [[Xiluodu]], and [[Xiangjiaba]] dams. The total capacity of those four dams is 38,500&nbsp;MW,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chinapower.com.cn/newsarticle/1008/new1008554.asp | language=zh | script-title=zh:中国三峡总公司拟在金沙江上建４座梯级水电站 总装机容量为３８５０万千瓦_中国电力网新闻中心 | publisher=chinapower.com.cn | access-date=August 1, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208230538/http://www.chinapower.com.cn/newsarticle/1008/new1008554.asp | archive-date=February 8, 2009 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref> almost double the capacity of the Three Gorges.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/estnews030703.htm | title=Beijing Environment, Science and Technology Update | publisher=U.S. Embassy in China | date=March 7, 2003 | access-date=January 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011154023/http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/estnews030703.htm | archive-date=October 11, 2007 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
Baihetan became fully operational in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New mega hydropower station to begin operations – China.org.cn|url=http://www.china.org.cn/business/2021-04/08/content_77387275.htm|access-date=April 9, 2021|website=china.org.cn}}</ref> Wudongde was opened in June 2021.  Another eight dams are in the midstream of the Jinsha and eight more upstream of it.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2041318 | title=Beyond Three Gorges in China | publisher=Water Power Magazine | date=January 10, 2007 | access-date=November 23, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614050746/http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2041318 | archive-date=June 14, 2011 | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Renewable energy|Energy|Water}}
{{Commons}}
* [[Baiheliang Underwater Museum]]
* [[South–North Water Transfer Project]]
* [[Energy policy of China]]
* [[List of largest dams]]
* [[List of reservoirs by volume]]
* [[List of largest power stations]]
* [[List of largest hydroelectric power stations]]
* [[List of power stations in China]]
* [[List of dams and reservoirs in China]]
* [[Medog Hydropower Station]] - planned dam in the [[Brahmaputra River]] catchment that will produce more energy than Three Gorges
* [[Three Gorges Museum]]
* [[Liang Weiyan]], one of the leading engineers who designed the water turbines for the dam

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist
|refs =

<ref name="Qq2012-10-12">{{cite news | url=http://hb.qq.com/a/20121012/000647.htm | script-title=zh:三峡翻坝铁路前期工作启动 建成实现水铁联运 | date=October 12, 2012 | access-date=April 20, 2016 | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904071748/http://hb.qq.com/a/20121012/000647.htm | archive-date=September 4, 2015 | quote=据透露，已经于去年底开工建设的紫云地方铁路,预计明年建成通车。紫云地方铁路接轨于国家铁路焦柳线枝江站，连接猇亭、白洋、姚家港三大开发区以及云池、白洋、田家河、姚家港四大港口，线路总长36.5公里，建成后年货运能力将达到1500万吨。 | trans-title=Dam in Three Gorges railway preliminary work completed to start the implementation of water and railway transport | url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="mayor">{{cite news | url=http://hb.people.com.cn/n/2013/0317/c194063-18307250.html | script-title=zh:湖北议案提案：提升三峡翻坝转运能力 | date=March 17, 2013 | access-date=April 20, 2016 | newspaper=[[People's Daily]] | language=zh | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510184016/http://hb.people.com.cn/n/2013/0317/c194063-18307250.html | archive-date=May 10, 2013 | quote=二、加快构建长期翻坝运输体系，并将疏港交通项目纳入三峡后扶规划。支持建设三峡大坝坝首太平溪至夷陵区张家口36.2公里的三峡翻坝高速公路江北段，与沪蓉高速公路互通；支持建设南北两岸三峡翻坝铁路，即夷陵太平溪港――宜昌火车东站――白洋田家河港88公里的北岸翻坝铁路，秭归茅坪港――宜昌火车南站――焦柳铁路枝城站95公里的南岸翻坝铁路；支持翻坝港口和翻坝物流园建设，加快形成完善的南北分流、水陆（铁）联运的翻坝转运格局，充分发挥长江黄金水道优势。 | trans-title=Hubei's Proposal: raise the Three Gorges dam-bypassing transportation capacity | url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Lahmeyer2013">{{cite web | url=http://www.lahmeyer.de/en/projects/hydropower-water-resources/hydraulic-structures/single/article/three-gorges-dam-ship-lift-peoples-republic-of-china.html | title=Three Gorges Dam Ship Lift, People's Republic of China | access-date=April 19, 2016 | archive-date=April 21, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421010508/http://www.lahmeyer.de/en/projects/hydropower-water-resources/hydraulic-structures/single/article/three-gorges-dam-ship-lift-peoples-republic-of-china.html | df=mdy-all | url-status=dead | year=2013}}</ref>

<ref name="SteelConstruction2009">{{cite web | archive-date=October 6, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006125931/http://probeinternational.org/library/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Ship-lift-at-Three-Gorges-Dam-China-design-of-steel-structures.pdf | author1=Jan Akkermann | url=http://probeinternational.org/library/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Ship-lift-at-Three-Gorges-Dam-China-design-of-steel-structures.pdf | title=Ship lift at Three Gorges Dam, China − design of steel structures | publisher=Steel construction 2 |year=2009 | access-date=April 19, 2016 | author2=Thomas Runte | author3=Dorothea Krebs | quote=The ship chamber is designed for passenger ships with a max. water displacement of 3000 tonnes, max. length of 84.5 m, max. width of 17.2 m and max. draught of 2.65 m. | url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="ChinaEconomicNet2016-02-17">{{cite news | access-date=December 12, 2018 | url=http://en.ce.cn/Insight/201602/17/t20160217_8909730.shtml | title=China shifts from follower to leader in hydropower development | publisher=China Economic Net | date=February 17, 2016 | author=Wang Yichen | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218091851/http://en.ce.cn/Insight/201602/17/t20160217_8909730.shtml | archive-date=February 18, 2016 | df=mdy-all | quote=CTGC announced on January 6 that the Three Gorges ship lift with the maximum lifting height reaching 113 meters and allowing ships with displacement of 3000-ton passing the dam has conducted real vessel experiment successfully in late December last year. | url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="ShanghaiDaily2016-09-18">{{cite news | url=http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nation/Worlds-largest-shiplift-starts-operation-at-Chinas-Three-Gorges-Dam/shdaily.shtml | title=World's largest shiplift starts operation at China's Three Gorges Dam | newspaper=[[Shanghai Daily]] | date=September 18, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918181204/http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nation/Worlds-largest-shiplift-starts-operation-at-Chinas-Three-Gorges-Dam/shdaily.shtml | archive-date=September 18, 2016 | quote=A permanent shiplift on the Three Gorges Dam in central China's Hubei Province began trial operation on Sunday. | url-status=live}}</ref>
}}{{Energy in the People's Republic of China}}
{{Yangtze dams | dam=Three Gorges Dam| downriver=none| upriver=[[Xiangjiaba Dam]]}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Three Gorges Dam| ]]
[[Category:Locks of China]]
[[Category:Gravity dams]]
[[Category:2008 establishments in China]]
[[Category:Dam controversies]]
[[Category:Dams completed in 2008]]
[[Category:Dams on the Yangtze River]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2012]]
[[Category:Hydroelectric power stations in Hubei]]
[[Category:Underground power stations]]
[[Category:Yichang]]
[[Category:Megaprojects]]