Studies Underway to Add 24,000 Megawatts of Capacity Including Coal-Fired Power Generation to China's Three Gorges Project

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). China's 18,200 megawatt (MW) Three Gorges Hydroelectric project, the largest power station in the world, will not be complete in 2009. The current scope of work involves the installation of twenty-six 700 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric units. While final installation at Three Gorges is far from complete, there are already studies underway that, if implemented, will add 4,200 MW of hydroelectric power and 20,000 MW of thermal generation.

Huaneng Group, parent of Huaneg Power International and Huaneng Mining Group, is considering the construction of up to 20,000 MW of coal-fired generation by 2020. The project would be built in Anhui Province, near the coal reserves, as a mine-mouth power plant. The structure of the units has not yet been decided, and there is no estimated cost, but it will certainly run into the billions of dollars.

The hydroelectric project will consist of another six 700 MW hydroelectric turbine/generator sets in an underground power house. This will bring the total to thirty-two hydroelectric turbine/generators, for a total of 22,400 MW hydroelectric capacity.

The Yangtze River Three Gorges Development Corporation is a Chinese Government corporation that has several Power Corporation subsidiaries, including the Huaneng Group, which controls power. They establish limited partnerships for each project. Three Gorges is the development arm that is developing all the major plants in that region. This includes the Three Gorges hydro and thermal, as well as a few others, which will establish separate names, once they reach a certain point in their development.

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