Three Gorges Dam water turbines in the underground plant began production. The ship lift was complete in December 2015. Each main water turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. The dam body was completed in 2006. Coupling the dam's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW. As well as producing electricity, the dam is intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and reduce the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. China regards the project as monumental as well as a
Three Gorges Dam The project used of concrete (mainly for the dam wall), used 463,000 T of steel (enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers), and moved about of earth. The concrete dam wall is high above the rock basis. When the water level is at its maximum of above sea level, higher than the river level downstream, the dam reservoir is on average about in length and in width. It contains of water and has a total surface area of . On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of of land, compared to the of reservoir created by the Itaipu Dam. The