The Three Gorges Dam has been in operation for 20 years, and the original investment of more than 250 billion yuan, coupled with the relocation and other issues has been controversial.
Some people think that the dam should not be built, while others believe that the Three Gorges Dam is a miracle in human history.
So, in the past 20 years, has the benefit of this project surpassed the investment of more than 250 billion yuan that year? What is its value?
The source in this article comes from the official media [Chinese Government Network State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council] (the link is attached at the end of the article), but in order to improve the readability of the article, the details may be polished, please read sensibly, for reference only!
The Three Gorges Dam is costly
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam dates back to the early 90s of the last century. As early as 1992, the State Council officially approved the construction of the Three Gorges Project.
After two years of preliminary preparation, on December 14, 1994, the world's first barrel of concrete was poured at the Three Gorges construction site, and the construction of the project officially started.
The Three Gorges Dam is located in a very strong location, where the Yangtze River flows through it and the rocks of the riverbed are hard, which poses a great challenge to the construction.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of residents along the river had to leave their homes to build the mega water conservancy project.
What is even more tricky is that the technical difficulties faced by the construction of the Three Gorges Project are also emerging one after another. This super-large water conservancy project is unprecedented, and there is no successful experience in the world that can be used for reference, and countless technical problems need to be broken through and overcome by hand.
The Three Gorges Dam itself is extremely large, and the requirements for building materials such as concrete and steel bars are rare in the world, and the quality is far beyond the conventional level.
In addition, how to deal with the impact and damage under extreme conditions, such as earthquakes and blasting, is also a problem that the engineering team must seriously consider and focus on.
After 12 years of unremitting efforts and a huge cost of human, material and financial resources, the Three Gorges Project was finally completed in 2006.
The total investment in the Three Gorges Dam is as high as 250 billion yuan, and if calculated according to the current price level, the 250 billion yuan that year is equivalent to about 500 billion yuan now.
Such a huge investment scale was an astronomical amount at the time, which was enough to see the enormity of the project.
Intuitive benefits don't yet cover the costs
As the world's largest water conservancy project, the Three Gorges Dam has been in operation for 20 years, and although the direct economic benefits are considerable, they have not yet fully covered its huge construction and operating costs.
The Three Gorges Dam's main direct economic source is electricity generation revenue. By the end of 2022, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station had generated more than 1.6 trillion kWh of electricity in a single year, with a single-year power generation capacity of 78.79 billion kWh.
According to the conservative feed-in tariff estimate of 0.25 yuan/kWh, the power generation revenue of the Three Gorges Hydropower Station in 2022 will be about 19.69 billion yuan. Based on this, the Three Gorges Dam's cumulative power generation revenue over the past 20 years is about 400 billion yuan.
Another direct source of income is tourism. In recent years, the Three Gorges Dam has received about 3 million tourists a year, with an annual tourism income of about 600 million yuan and a cumulative total of about 12 billion yuan in 20 years.
Combining the two major revenues of power generation and tourism, the direct economic benefits of the Three Gorges Dam in 20 years are about 412 billion yuan, which seems to be considerable.
However, the operation of the Three Gorges Project requires continuous high maintenance and labor costs. It has been revealed that billions of yuan will be spent annually on operation and maintenance and personnel salaries alone.
If these indirect costs are taken into account, the total real benefits of the Three Gorges Dam over 20 years will be significantly reduced.
According to expert analysis, after deducting all direct and indirect costs, the current net income of the Three Gorges Dam cannot fully recover the construction investment of about 250 billion yuan that year.
Solve the problem of flood prevention and protect hundreds of billions of lives and property
As the world's largest water conservancy project, the core significance of the Three Gorges Dam is not the direct economic benefits, but the comprehensive benefits of flood control, power generation, and water resource regulation.
From this point of view, although the Three Gorges Project has invested a huge amount, it has already recovered its construction costs by flood control alone.
The Yangtze River basin has always been the main focus of flood control on the mainland, and there is a risk of serious waterlogging and drowning during the flood season.
The Three Gorges Reservoir has a large storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 22% of the annual runoff of the Yangtze River, and fundamentally solves the century-old flood control problem in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This is simply a decisive victory in the battle against flooding.
According to official statistics, during the 2022 flood season alone, the Three Gorges Dam cut 12.1 billion cubic meters of peak flood flow in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
According to a conservative estimate of the flood control benefit of 2 yuan per cubic meter, the Three Gorges Dam will reduce flood losses by 242 billion yuan for the country in 2022 alone, which can be called a "money printing machine".
It is worth mentioning that in a catastrophic flood of the Yangtze River in 2020, the Three Gorges Reservoir played a decisive role, effectively blocking the stormy flood peak, reducing hundreds of billions of yuan of huge economic losses for the country and protecting the lives and property of millions of residents along the river. If there were no "horns" of the Three Gorges Reservoir back then, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
It can be seen from this that the Three Gorges Project is creating hundreds of billions of yuan in economic benefits for the country every year in flood control, which is already worth the value of money compared with the investment of 250 billion yuan during the construction period.
The Three Gorges Project has successfully solved the major hidden dangers of disasters that have threatened the safety of people's lives and property over the past 100 years, and its value is incalculable for any amount of money.
At the same time, the Three Gorges Reservoir also plays a role in regulating the water system of the Yangtze River. In 2022, the Three Gorges Dam delivered 11.6 billion cubic meters of ecological water to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, ensuring the safety of shipping and water supply in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and maintaining the ecological balance of the entire basin. These are values that are hard to measure for money.
The Three Gorges Dam contributes to green development
Since the Three Gorges Dam was put into operation in 2003, it has made significant contributions to providing clean energy to the mainland, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and responding to climate change, which is of great significance to achieving the "dual carbon" goal.
At the same time, the Three Gorges Project has also provided an important guarantee for the rational use of water resources, the navigation of the Yangtze River, and agricultural irrigation in areas along the Yangtze River, and has fully embodied its comprehensive benefits.
Compared to coal-fired power generation, hydropower generation avoids the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that in the past 20 years, the Three Gorges Hydropower Station has reduced a total of 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and the emission reduction benefits have reached hundreds of billions of yuan.
This not only significantly reduces the total carbon emissions of the continent, but also contributes to the global response to climate change. The operation and practice of the Three Gorges Project has effectively contributed to the mainland's strategic goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", and is a model for the mainland to develop clean energy.
At the same time, the Three Gorges Reservoir will also replenish the ecological flow to the downstream every year as planned to maintain the basic ecological needs of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In 2022, the Three Gorges Dam delivered 11.6 billion cubic meters of ecological water downstream, ensuring the smooth flow of the Yangtze River system.
In addition, the Three Gorges Project has also greatly improved the shipping conditions of the Yangtze River's golden waterway. Since the completion of the Three Gorges Reservoir, more than 5,000 kilometers of water in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can basically achieve a navigable capacity of more than 12 meters in water depth, which has greatly improved the shipping capacity of the Yangtze River.
It is worth mentioning that the Three Gorges Reservoir has also provided a stable source of irrigation water for the areas along the Yangtze River by adjusting the water level and replenishing the water ecology, which has greatly improved the conditions for local agricultural production and is conducive to food security.
In general, the comprehensive benefits of the Three Gorges Project are remarkable, and it has saved the state a lot of time and capital investment in promoting the use of clean energy, reducing pollution emissions, protecting the ecological environment, and ensuring agricultural production.
conclusion
Although the investment in the Three Gorges Dam project is huge, from the perspective of comprehensive value and long-term significance, its benefits have long exceeded the investment costs, and will continue to create comprehensive benefits for the country and the people.
We cannot one-sidedly focus only on the direct economic benefits of the Three Gorges Project and ignore the tremendous value it has created in flood control, power generation, shipping, irrigation, ecological regulation, and many other fields.
In fact, over the past 20 years, the Three Gorges Project has reduced trillions of yuan in economic losses and saved countless lives and property for the country in flood control.
If we take into account the comprehensive benefits of flood control, power generation, shipping, irrigation, and ecological regulation created by the Three Gorges Project over the past 20 years, its overall value is already an astronomical figure, far exceeding the investment cost of 250 billion yuan.
In this sense, the comprehensive income of the Three Gorges Project has long since recovered its investment, and it will continue to create more comprehensive value for the country and the people.
In fact, the value of the Three Gorges Project is far more than a simple economic return, but also a significant contribution to the development of the country and the nation.
Therefore, we should understand and evaluate the Three Gorges Project from a more macro and long-term perspective, and uphold a comprehensive and objective attitude, because only in this way can we accurately understand and grasp the true connotation of this leading project.
The Three Gorges Project is not only an outstanding representative of the mainland's modernization drive, but also a vivid practice of ecological civilization construction.
Its comprehensive value in flood control, power generation, shipping, irrigation and other aspects has long gone beyond a single economic category, and carries the major mission of supporting the country's modernization process, maintaining ecological security, and promoting green development.
Therefore, the Three Gorges Project will continue to give full play to its unique value, create greater comprehensive benefits for the country and the people, and write a new glorious chapter.
bibliography
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council The Three Gorges Project will be operating well in 2023 http://www.sasac.gov.cn/n16582853/n16582883/c29815894/content.html
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council 226.93 billion kWh! The annual cumulative power generation of the cascade hydropower station of the Three Gorges Corporation has reached a record http://www.sasac.gov.cn/n2588025/n2588124/c16469675/content.html
Chinese government website The Three Gorges Reservoir area has risen as a "world famous hydropower tourism city" https://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2014-12/19/content_2793926.htm