Three Gorges Dam

Question 1

What river is it on?

Answer 1

Yangtze River, just west of the city Yichang in China.

Question 2

When did construction of the dam officially begin, and when was it fully operational?

Answer 2

1994, 2012.

Question 3

Give two facts about it, in relation to it’s significance.

Answer 3

Was the largest engineering project in China, and was the largest dam structure in the world at time of completion.

Question 4

How much did the project cost?

Answer 4

$25 billion.

Question 5

What were the hopes of the dam?

Answer 5

• Reduce flooding, as The Yangtzee river basin accounts for 40% of China’s GDP, with floods causing death, destruction and disruption.
• Generate clean HEP energy, access to cheap electricity would help spread wealth from coastal provinces further inland.
• Regulation of river’s flow would facilitate easier shipments of raw materials and goods along the Yangtze, as well as enabling access to irrigation for farmers involved in cash crops production.

Question 6

What are some social/environmental issues with it?

Answer 6

• Had to displace over 1.2 million people due to it’s location. Ancestral homes demolished, communities broken up. Farmers not usually given alternate land to farm on.
• Destruction of ecosystems to build dam, contributed to the extinction/near extinction to multiple species eg Baiji dolphin.
• Flooding upstream near Chongqing in 2020, submerging roads, bridges, parks.

Question 7

What are some successes of it?

Answer 7

• Generating capacity of 22,500 MW.
• Has allowed China to rely less on coal, becoming more green.
• Lifespan of about 50-100 years, much longer than others, as well as little maintenance needed.
• Reduced precipitation are often easily predictable, so can be well managed.
• Increases energy supply, boosting business. Reduces disparity of energy and wealth, giving cheaper energy to many areas. eg Hubei.

Question 8

What are some issues with supply?

Answer 8

• HEP not as reliable as other sources, eg nuclear. Monsoon season means reservoir water needs careful controlling. Power production fell by 30% in Oct 2022. Local factories had to shut down.
• Took 6 years for the dam to be fully functional.
• New dam built on river in 2021 suggests TGD doesn’t supply enough energy. Only supplied 1.43% of China’s total electricity production in 2020, was meant to be 10%. However China is a BEAST, need more energy. As time goes on, this will only get worse.

Question 9

What are some issues with demand?

Answer 9

• The nations total electricity demand grew by nearly 2,000 Terawatt hours over 5 years.
• Colder winters leading to increase demand in winter.
• Continuing rural-urban migration leading to higher energy demand.
• China rapidly developing, largest exporter in world, continuing demand for electricity. Aims to output 10% of power needs, this is crashing down.
• 1.4bn population, high demand.
• As China starts to phase out coal, increased pressure on HEP.