At 12:28 on March 1, in the central control room of the Three Gorges Power Plant, the rolling number on the automatic counter for power generation has exceeded the 10,000 kWh. It is the first time that the total volume of electricity generated by the Three Gorges Power Plant has surpassed 1 trillion kWh after its continuous generation for 14 years.

　　As the largest hydropower plant in the world, the Three Gorges Power Plant is equipped with 32 sets of 700,000kV and two sets of 50,000kV hydroelectric generating units. With the total installed capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts, both its stand-alone capacity and total installed capacity rank first in the world. The first units were put into operation in 2003. In 2012, all of units were completed and put into operation, including the underground 6 units. Since then, it has become the main power source in our country for “West-to-East Electricity Transmission” and “Mutual Supply between the North and the South”.

　　Having continuously generating the electricity for 14 years, the Three Gorges Power Plant has been creating huge comprehensive benefits. A relevant member of the China Three Gorges Group said the total generating capacity of 1 trillion kwh is as 7.1 times as the power usage of Shanghai City in 2015. Put in another way, it can help save 319 million tons of standard coal, reducing the emission of 858 million-ton of carbon dioxide, 8.99 million tons of sulfur dioxide, and 2.57 million tons of nitrogen oxide. The emission reducing benefits are equal to 2.243 million hectares of broad-leaved forest, which means increasing the forest area by 1/3 of Greater Khingan Mountains (Daxinganling).

　　The electricity generated by the Three Gorges Power Plant can be directly sent to the Central China, East China and 10 southern provinces and cities, to provide a strong momentum for the social and economic development of half of China. According to the analysis of the National Bureau of statistics, every kilowatt hour of electricity can produce GDP of 12 yuan. Thus 1 trillion kWh of electricity can support China’s GDP of 12 trillion yuan.(Reporter Tang Yigui; correspondents: Han Chengzhen and Li Yang)