Four electricity generators will be installed each year from 2004 to 2009 at the Three Gorges Project, the world's biggest water conservation project, on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Liu Kuanghua, chief accountant with the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, disclosed the information at an on-going national meeting on water control and power generation, in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Five power generators have gone into operation at the Three Gorges Project and another is expected to be connected to the power grid before the end of this year, Liu said.

Begun in 1993 and expected to be completed in 2009 at an estimated total cost of 180 billion yuan (US$21.8 billion), the Three Gorges Project will have 26 generators, each with a capacity of 700,000 kw.

The Three Gorges Project began to pay dividends this year, also playing an important role in flood control, power generation, navigation, water diversion and environmental protection.

This year alone, it is expected to supply 6,130 million kwh of electricity to southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and the central China and east China power grids.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2003)