The Dam was proposed by Sun Yat-Sen in 1919 after WWI. Talks dwindled because of WWII but were picked back up by Mao Tse Tung after the 1950s floods of the Yangtze. Public outrage ensued and the project was put to a hault. The National People’s Republic finally approved the construction of the bridge in 1986.
The contracts for the Dam were split among 2 groups, each consisting of 3 companies. Alstom, ABB and Kvaerner, and Voith, Siemens and GE.
Alstom- A French international company that works in power generation and transport markets.
ABB- A Swiss company specializing in robotics, power, and automation.
Kvaerner- A Norwegian engineering and construction company.
For the eight units, Alstom was the prime turbine contractor, with work worth $212m. Several of its units were involved, led by Mecanica Pesada of Brazil and the Tianjin Chinese hydro turbine joint venture. Kvaerner of Norway supplied design, technology, five runners and components. It put its share of the business at $40m. ABB was chosen to supply eight generators (ABB does not make hydro turbines) under a contract said to be worth $250m. This took the total value of the eight-unit order to $500m.
Voith- A German mechanical engineering company.
Siemens- A German engineering company. It is the largest electrical engineering company in Europe.
GE- An American company that specializes in Energy, Technology Infrastructure, Capital Finance and Consumer and Industry.
The six-unit order was split between Voith, the lead turbine contractor, Siemens, which was to supply generators (like ABB, it does not make hydro turbines), and GE, which will carry out turbine and generator work. The entire order is worth an estimated $350m.
These companies obviously had to get paid, but China had to get the money from multiple locations. The funding sources included the profit from Gezhouba Dam that is that the price of electricity from the Gezhuba Dam increased from 0.0065 dollar per kWh to 0.022 dollar per kWh, 5 billion dollar loans from the China Development Bank, loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, and invested the bond and stock. The biggest percent of the investment of the Three Gorges Dam was from the national treasury. The policy of charging provinces for the electricity is that in every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam has to pay 1.2 dollar per MWh extra. Other provinces had to pay an additional charge of 0.7 dollar per MWh. Tibet pays no surcharge.
By: Liam Brennan
These companies obviously had to get paid, but China had to get the money from multiple locations. The funding sources included the profit from Gezhouba Dam that is that the price of electricity from the Gezhuba Dam increased from 0.0065 dollar per kWh to 0.022 dollar per kWh, 5 billion dollar loans from the China Development Bank, loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, and invested the bond and stock. The biggest percent of the investment of the Three Gorges Dam was from the national treasury. The policy of charging provinces for the electricity is that in every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam has to pay 1.2 dollar per MWh extra. Other provinces had to pay an additional charge of 0.7 dollar per MWh. Tibet pays no surcharge.
By: Liam Brennan
