The Three Gorges Power Station will soon generate power. Sources from the Three Gorges Project say that the No 2 generating unit has completed all the water debugging processes; while the No 5 generating unit also has finished all tests before this unit is connected to the central China power grid, with the connecting test to begin very soon.

If things go well, the Three Gorges Power Station is expected to have generated 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity by the yearend with the first batch of generating units beginning power generation in August, said related experts.

How will the Three Gorges power be distributed?

According to the plan worked out by the former State Development Planning Commission (predecessor of the State Development and Reform Commission), before the San-Guang (3 Gorges-Guangdong) D.C. electricity transmission project is put into operation in 2004, the Three Gorges power will be transmitted to east China and central China in the proportion of 5:5.

After the project starts operation, the Three Gorges power will be distributed to east China and Guangdong in the same proportion during the flood season. When the transmitted energy amounts to the designed transmitting capacity of 7.2 million kw and 3 million kw respectively, the remaining energy will be delivered to central China.

During the non-flood season, the power station will deliver 16-percent energy to Guangdong, 40 percent to east China and 44 percent to central China. Considering that central China needs more electricity during the dry season, the proportion of power it receives will be raised to 52 percent, while that for east China be reduced to 32 percent, and that for Guangdong will remain unchanged.

Considering Jiangxi and Anhui are fairly rich in electricity in near term, no electric energy from the Three Gorges will be transmitted to these two provinces during the "10th Five-year Plan" period.

Since the first-batch units will go into operation one month ahead of schedule, the whole project will generate 1.63 billion kwh more than the original total of 3.87 billion kwh this year. Thus, relative departments further optimize the distribution plan for 2003.

 The original distribution plan of 3.87 billion kwh remains unchanged with the power being transmitted in proportion to Henan, Hubei, Hunan in central China and Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in east China, while the added 1.63 billion kwh will be transferred to Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan and Chongqing. As a whole, the specific distribution plan on the 5.5-billion-kwh electricity is as follows: 2.62 billion kwh to be transmitted to the aforesaid two provinces plus one municipality in east China, 2.38 billion kwh to the above-mentioned three provinces in central China and 0.5 billion kwh to Chongqing.

However, the electricity price determines whether the Three Gorges power can be sold out. In this regard, the price problem of the Three Gorges electricity has been submitted to the State Development and Reform Commission for examination and approval, said related personages with State Power Grid Corporation. As learned, the grid electricity price averages 0.25 yuan per kwh, plus the average transmission fee of 0.07 yuan per kwh, the average landing price stands at 0.32 yuan per kwh.

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