Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Contents page
Contents – page 1
Executive summary/Abstract- page 2
Introduction – include theory on technology – page 2&3
Construction phase – page 4
Operating characteristics
Environmental impact of project
Conclusions
References
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Abstract

This document contains a case study on the infamous Three Gorges Dam in China. During the course
of this case study, I will be walking you through the technology used ton create this dam, the
timeline of events, environmental impacts and much more.

Many people have researched this dam and there have been a million conclusions drawn on its
environmental controversies and many of this research I am about to lay out in front of you is not
new but my interests lie in discussing if the environmental impacts of the Three Gorge project are
being monitored properly.

We already know that this dam has made great strides in renewable technology which we will be
discussing but today we are also going to discuss the environmental impacts and the displacement of
the communities surrounding the dam in order for it to stand in the place it does today.

This case study is a compilation of the research I have done and my own thoughts and opinions on
this dam.

Introduction

Hydroelectric power is electricity produced from generators driven by turbines that convert

the potential energy of falling or fast-flowing water into mechanical energy. In the 21st
century, hydroelectric power was one of the most used forms of energy. In 2019 it
accounted for more than 18 percent of the world’s total power generation capacity. With
hydroelectric power water is collected or stored at a higher elevation and ushered
downward through large pipes or tunnels to a lower elevation.
The difference in these two elevations is known as the head. Towards the end of its passage
down the pipes, the streaming water causes turbines to rotate. The turbines in turn move
the generators, which convert the turbines’ mechanical energy into
electricity. Transformers are then used to convert the alternating voltage to be compatible
with the generators to a higher voltage suitable for long-distance transmission. The
structure that houses the turbines and generators, and into which the pipes, is
the powerhouse.
The potential power that can be derived from a volume of water is directly proportional to
the working head, so that a high-head installation requires a smaller volume of water than a
low-head installation to produce an equal amount of power. In some dams, the powerhouse
is constructed on one flank of the dam, part of the dam being used as a spillway over which
excess water is discharged in times of flood. Where the river flows in a narrow steep gorge,
the powerhouse may be located within the dam itself.
In certain areas hydroelectric power plants have been constructed to take advantage of the
rise and fall of tides. When the tide comes in, water is impounded in one or more reservoirs.
At low tide, the water in these reservoirs is released to drive hydraulic turbines and their
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

coupled electric generators.

Three Gorges Dam, dam on the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) just west of the city
of Yichang in Hubei province, China. When the building of the dam officially began in 1994, it
was the one of the most large-scale engineering projects in China. At the time of its
completion in 2006, it was the largest dam structure in the world. A straight-
crested concrete gravity structure, the Three Gorges Dam is 2,335 metres long with a
maximum height of 185 metres. It incorporates 28 million cubic metres of concrete and
463,000 metric tons of steel into its design. The dam has created an immense deep water
reservoir allowing freighters to navigate 2,250 km inland from Shanghai on the East China
Sea to the inland city of Chongqing.

 Limited hydroelectric power production began in 2003 and gradually increased as

additional turbine generators came online over the years until 2012, when all of the dam’s
32 turbine generator units were operating. Those units, along with 2 additional generators,
gave the dam the capacity to generate 22,500 megawatts of electricity, making it the most
productive hydroelectric dam in the world. The dam also was intended to protect millions of
people from the periodic flooding that plagues the Yangtze basin, although just how
effective it has been in this regard has been debated.
Ideas for the Three Gorges Dam started being discussed in the 1920s by Chinese Nationalist
Party leaders, the idea for the Three Gorges Dam was given new momentum in 1953 when
Chinese leader Mao Zedong ordered feasibility studies of a number of sites. Detailed
planning for the project began in 1955. It was insisted that the dam could control
disastrous flooding along the Yangtze, facilitate inland trade, and provide much-needed
power for central China, but the dam was not without its critics.
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Reproval of the project began as soon as the plans were proposed and continued through its
construction. Key problems included the danger of dam collapse, the displacement of some
1.3 million people living in more than 1,500 cities, towns, and villages along the river, and
the destruction of magnificent scenery and countless rare architectural and archaeological
sites. There were also fears—some of which had to be endured by the communities
surrounding the Dam—that human and industrial waste from cities would pollute the
reservoir and even that the huge amount of water being held in the reservoir could
trigger earthquakes and landslides.
Chinese and foreign engineers argued that several smaller and far-cheaper and less-
problematic dams on the Yangtze tributaries could generate as much power as the Three
Gorges Dam and control flooding equally well. They were sure that construction of those
dams would enable the government to meet its main priorities without the risks. These
problems caused the dam to be delayed almost 40 years. However, in 1993 construction
began on the Dam, workers started to stretch electricity to reach the site and create access
roads. The river was then blocked and diverted in 1997.
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Construction

Whilst I was researching for this case study, I found a timeline of events in the construction
of the dam broken down:

1. 1950, Yangtze River Commission was founded, and the comprehensive treatment of
Yangtze River was started.

2. 1955, the Planning of Yangtze River and the exploration, scientific research and
planning of Three Gorges Dam were proceeded in an all-round way. These works
were basically completed at the end of 1957.

3. December 26, 1970, Gezhou Dam of Yangtze River was approved to be constructed.
This is a planned and orderly preparatory work for the construction of Three Gorges
Dam.

4. April 3, 1992, Resolution on Construction of Three Gorges Dam was passed on Fifth
Session of the Seventh National People's Congress. The legislation of Three Gorges
Dam was completed and step into the implementation phase.

5. September 27, 1993, Three Gorges Project Development Corporation of China was

officially founded in Yichang of Hubei Province.

6. December 14, 1994, Prime Minister Li Peng announced that the construction
of Three Gorges Dam officially starts at Sandouping in Yichang.

7. November 8, 1997, Three Gorges Dam managed the river closure; the construction
objective of the first phase was completed.

8. 1998, the second phase construction of Three Gorges Dam started.

9. 2000, the generating units’ instalment of Three Gorges Dam started.

10. October 21, 2002, construction of the most important discharge dam of Three
Gorges Dam finished. The dam reached the designed height – 185 meters above the
sea level.

11. November 7, 2002, the biggest hydro-generator units in the world were hoisted
successfully. This marked the first giant units were basically installed and stepped
into the assembly phase.

12. December 16, 2002, the pouring construction of the roller compacted concrete
cofferdam started.

13. April 11, 2003, the temporary ship lock of Three Gorges stopped operation. The
navigation of Three Gorges Area was planned to stop for 67 days.
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

14. April 27, 2003, the second phase of migrant project of Three Gorges Dam be checked
and accepted by the country smoothly. This marked migrant work of Three Gorges
Dam managed great achievement in phasal sense.

15. May 21, 2003, the second phase of Three Gorges Dam met the requirement of
raising the water level of Three Gorges Reservoir to 135 meters and navigation.

16. 2006, Three Gorges Dam raised its water level of Three Gorges Reservoir to 156
meters.

17. 2009, all the construction of Three Gorges Dam were completed.

18. 2012, Three Gorges Dam raised the water level of Three Gorges Reservoir to
175 meters.

Operating Characteristics

The Three Gorges Project is designed with a concrete gravity dam with a crest elevation of
185 meters and maximum height of 175 meters. The dam axis runs 2, 309. 47 meters long,
which is even longer than the noted Grand Coulee Dam of US.
The 483-meter spillway, located in the middle of the main dam, has 23 bottom outlets
dimensioned at 79 meters. Each of its 22 surface sluice gates measures 8 meters wide. The
maximum discharge capacity of the TGP is 116,000 cubic meters, the biggest in the world.
Two powerhouses, accommodate altogether 26 sets of turbine-generators. As the world's
biggest unit ever made, each has a generating capacity of 700MW. The 643.6-meter-long
left powerhouse, 60 meters longer than the 584.2-meter-long right one, houses 14 sets of
generators. With all these huge generators, the TGP is designed to generate electricity of
84.7 TW/h.
The dam is located 44km from the city of Yichang in Hubei province. This point is at the end
of a series of steep canyons that form a 630km reservoir, with an average width of 1.3km.
Its capacity is 39.3 billion cubic metres.
The grids and their planned shares of offtake are Central China Power Network (55%), East
China Power Network (39%) and Sichuan Provincial Grid (6%).

Environmental Impact of the project

Problems involving the Three Gorge project include eutrophication and algae blooms in the
reservoir area, dramatic reductions in the four major fish species in the area, intense
downstream riverbed erosion, and declines of water levels in Lake Dongting and Lake
Boyang.The cross-effects between global climate change and the possible impact of the
Three Gorge project on regional or local climate make it difficult to know the impact of the
Three Gorge project.
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

However, the generated hydroelectricity of the Three Gorge project reduced carbon
emissions from 2003 to 2010 by 406.7 million tons. This is the equivalent of 0.84 percentage
points of the total greenhouse gas emission reduction of China over the same time.

The droughts in 2006 and 2011 triggered a debate on the impact of the Three Gorge project
on the lakes of Dongting and Boyang. By monitoring and researching need to be
strengthened. The environmental impact of the Three Gorge Project should be assessed
using a bigger temporal and spatial scale, and it should consider the impact of global climate
change on the biophysical environments of the Three Gorge Reservoir and the Yangzi River
Basin.

“The Three Gorges Dam, according to some, has the potential to be one of China's largest
environmental nightmares That said, one of the most immediate environmental effects of
the Three Gorges Dam has been an increase in landslide activity.”( Blake Campbell-Hyde-
Mandala Projects)
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Conclusions
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

There are a few things we can discuss about this case study, the first being the process of
eutrophication and algae blooms starves bodies of water of oxygen and the nutrients and
organisms that many rivers and bodies of water need to survive and sustain organisms of all
sizes. Algae also produces toxins that if consumed or being in contact with large amounts
can be extremely dangerous to the point of sickening or killing people and animals.

“The Yangtze River contains 300 different fish species. It is argued that the construction of
the dam will prevent fish from spawning upstream, thus diminishing population sizes. This
would have a negative impact on the local fishing industry and also on the livelihoods of
fisherman who depend on it. It has been noted that fish are now moving upstream on
tributaries to the Yangtze River to spawn. The government also insists that the creation of
the reservoir will make room for more fish and so increase fish population in that way. Only
the future will be able to tell how the dam will affect local fisheries.”(Laura O’Hare-
mtholyoke.edu)

The Three Gorges project also displaced 1.3 million people, displacement can have major
effects on human life, for example, it can reduce access to work, education and sometimes
even healthcare. Due to the possible reductions in access to work it can greatly impact
people’s economic potential. Displacement can also have an effect on the new communities
the displaced people choose to reside in, if too many people overload a community’s
resources, scarcity can occur which may lead to tensions and conflict between the original
residents and the displaced persons.

Economic benefits that occurred from the dam, since the Yangtze had a tendency to flood
anyway, measures were taken to minimalize its effects but since the building of the dam the
flood frequency increased to 100 years which therefore lessened the impacts of flooding in
the area.

The dam is also a self-sustaining, renewable and clean source of energy that provides
electricity to much of China. Creating the reservoir for the Dam also had multiple benefits, it
will hold more water for irrigation, as well as provide a stable source of drinking water for
the people of the areas nearby.

The Dam also created around 5000 jobs for people in the area which is impressive.

In conclusion, this Dam came with its own set of controversies and unlimited possibilities
from the very beginning. The dam made massive strides in the clean energy industry due to
its sheer vastness, however, it did not come at no cost

Reference list
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges dam. Facts, construction, benefits - The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

https://www.bing.com/newtabredir?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Ftopic
%2FThree-Gorges-Dam

Construction history of the three gorges dam

Construction History of Three Gorges Dam (myyangtzecruise.com)

Economic Issues surround Three Gorges dam

Economic Issues (mtholyoke.edu)

Impact assessment of Three Gorges Dam

Environmental impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project in China: Issues and
interventions - ScienceDirect

Three Gorges Dam Hydro Electric Power Plant, China

Three Gorges Dam Hydro Electric Power Plant, China (power-technology.com)