China Friday began to install underground generators of the Three Gorges Project, in addition to the 26 turbines on the banks of the Yangtze River, the project developer said.

The picture taken on March 19, 2009 shows the first underground generator of the Three Gorges Project. China began to install underground generators of the Three Gorges Project on April 17, in addition to the 26 turbines on the banks of the Yangtze River. [Xinhua photo]

The stay ring of the first underground turbine was put in place Friday afternoon, the state-owned China Three Gorges Project Corporation said in a statement.

The stay ring, which measures 11.4 meters in diameter and weighs 380 tonnes, is a support structure of the generating unit No. 32, the company added.

Launched in 1993, the hydroelectric project is built near Yichang in central China's Hubei Province to tame the unruly Yangtze River and fuel China's economic development with clean and cheap energy.

The project mainly includes a 185-meter-high dam, a five-tier ship lock and 32 generators, 26 of which are on the river banks and had all gone operational by October last year, with installed capacity totaling 18.2 million kw.

Plans were expanded further to include six more underground turbines by 2012, with a total capacity of 4.2 million kw. The first underground turbine will be operational in 2010.

As of April 7, the world's largest hydroelectric project has generated 300 billion kwh of electricity since its first generator was put into operation in July 2003. The amount is equivalent to 8.8 percent of the national consumption last year.

China began to install underground generators of the Three Gorges project, in addition to the 26 turbines on the banks of the Yangtze River, on April 17. [CFP]

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2009)