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DAM-L April 18, 2002 (fwd)
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Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 12:08:09 -0700
Subject: April 18, 2002
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<h3>April 18, 2002</h3>
Our web site is <a href="http://www.ThreeGorgesProbe.org/";>www.ThreeGorgesProbe.org</a>
<font color="Red"><H2>Today's Top Stories</H2></font> <B>Turbines could generate giant problems, official warns <BR>by Kelly Haggart</B> <BR>In an unusually frank public admission of problems associated with the Three Gorges dam, the senior official in charge of monitoring project quality control has said she is "really concerned" about the design of the 26 giant turbines. <BR> <BR><B>Qian Zhengying's speech to project officials</B> <BR> <font color="Red"><H3>News from other sources</H3></font> <I>This week's stories reprinted from EFE News Service, Dow Jones International News, Financial Times.</I> <BR> <BR><B>Chinese 1st quarter GDP up 7.6 per cent</B> <BR>China's finance minister warns that the government cannot go on indefinitely shelling out for big-ticket public works projects such as the Three Gorges dam. <BR><A HREF="http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=4024"; style="text-decoration:none">www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=conte!
nt&ContentID=4024</A> <BR> <BR><B>China Three Gorges bond tranches to start trading Apr 19</B> <BR>Two recently issued bond tranches of China's Yangtze Three Gorges Development Co. will start trading on the mainland bourses April 19. <BR><A HREF="http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=4025"; style="text-decoration:none">www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=4025</A> <BR> <BR><B>Economic transition fails to inspire foreign confidence </B> <BR>Analysts caution that China's power demands are so vast that the domestic financial system may not be able to satisfy all its requirements. The Three Gorges Dam is a good example, James Kynge writes. <BR><A HREF="http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=4026"; style="text-decoration:none">www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=4026</A> <P><br>
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<font color="#CC0000" size="+1">Turbines could generate giant problems, official warns</font>
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The senior official in charge of monitoring Three Gorges project quality control has said she is "really concerned" about the design of the 26 giant turbines being built for the world's biggest dam. <P>
In an unusually frank public admission of problems associated with the construction project, Qian Zhengying, a former minister of water resources and electric power who heads the dam's quality-control inspection group, said the turbines are not ideally suited to the conditions in which they will be operated, but it is too late to do anything about it. <P>
"The die is cast, since we have signed the contracts with the suppliers," she said. <P>
She also expressed concern that cracks could appear in the turbines, particularly the ones made in China, because of possible "flaws and weaknesses" in their manufacturing or installation. <P>
Ms. Qian spoke to project officials on April 8 after her team of experts spent a week investigating problems at the construction site. Her remarks were published in the Three Gorges Project Daily (Sanxia gongcheng bao) on April 11. <P>
"When we invited tenders for the turbines years ago, we assumed they would be operating with the reservoir water level high," Ms. Qian said. "Based on this assumption, we placed special emphasis on several key technical parameters in the design and manufacture of the turbines. <P>
"But now things have changed, given that the turbines will be operating with the reservoir water level low for most of the year, as all of us have now realized. … [W]e are really concerned about the big difference between the operating conditions we assumed when inviting tenders years ago, and the actual conditions that will pertain when the turbines are put into operation a year and half from now." <P>
She said that how the turbines will operate "under these changed circumstances" remains a major question. And she noted that "the key to promoting economic benefits and repaying loans depends on being able to generate electricity." <P>
The turbines' power output will depend on how much water is stored behind the dam, and they will generate less electricity than originally projected if the water level in the reservoir is kept low. Ms. Qian gave no details about this apparent change in operating regime. <P>
"What we most need to rethink is how and why we created such a big problem by selecting this particular design and structure for the turbines in the first place," she said. <P>
GE Canada is a member of a consortium including Siemens and Voith of Germany and Sade Vigesa of Brazil that is supplying six of the dam's 26 turbine-generator units. GE Canada is building three of the units at its plant in Lachine, Que. Canada's Export Development Corp. provided a US$153-million loan to finance the deal. Another group, made up of GEC Alsthom of France and ABB Power Generation, a Swiss-Swedish company, is supplying eight generators. <P>
Ms. Qian said cracks have also appeared in the concrete dam itself, and in the giant five-stage ship-lock, the biggest of its kind ever built. She revealed that the "flaws and cracks" on the surface of the ship-lock were so severe that her team of experts had almost been forced to call a halt to construction. <P>
"Special care needs to be taken to ensure the solidity of the concrete, since hollows and other flaws are still being found in some places on the surface of the ship-lock," she said. <P>
"You and I will both be blamed if we cannot sail our boats on the Yangtze after the Three Gorges dam is completed." <P>
The cracks in the dam were caused by a failure to keep sections of concrete warm during hardening. More attention must be paid to temperature variations during concrete pouring, especially because an unusually hot summer is expected this year, she said. <P>
"The concrete-pouring has not been first-class, and cracks in the dam have been discovered," she said. "Perhaps the inspection group should be held responsible for the consequences. Why? Because we failed to remind you to continue to keep the poured sections warm after we discovered in the winter of 2000 that you were no longer doing this." <P>
She cautioned project officials that quality-control issues must not be sacrificed in the race to start generating electricity - and repaying the project's huge debts. <P>
"From my own experience, I have seen the following scenario on many occasions: Today a brand-new hydropower station starts generating electricity after a grand ceremony celebrating the completion of the project - and the next day the station has to cease operating for a lengthy period of inspection and repair," she said. <P>
"Some projects have become unable to generate electricity at all, and, even if they are able to produce electricity, others have had difficulty reaching the designed generating capacity." <P>
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<hr size="3" width="400" color="#CC0000">
<font color="#CC0000" size="+1">Qian Zhengying's speech to project officials</font>
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<B>[Qian Zhengying, head of the Three Gorges project quality-control inspection group, spoke to Three Gorges Project Corp. officials at the dam site on April 8, 2002. Her remarks, published by the Three Gorges Project Daily (Sanxia gongcheng bao) on April 11, are excerpted below. Ms. Qian is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, vice-chairwoman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a former minister of water resources and electric power.]</B> <P>
Since our last inspection in December, you have done a great job and fulfilled many objectives in the construction of the dam project. All the members of the inspection group are happy to see fewer problems with the building of the dam, though we are far from totally satisfied. For example, the concrete-pouring has not been first-class, and cracks have been discovered in the dam. <P>
Perhaps the inspection group should be held responsible for the consequences. Why? Because we failed to remind you to continue to keep the poured sections warm after we discovered in the winter of 2000 that you were no longer doing this. Lacking sufficient experience, we didn't realize that keeping the poured sections warm was still necessary. We should learn lessons from the incident and do our job better in future. <P>
Another problem pertains to hydropower. I agree with you that the key to promoting economic benefits and repaying loans depends on being able to generate electricity. But unforeseen problems may lie around the corner with the installation, especially of the turbines, as other experts have already mentioned. In recent years, many problems have been discovered in big turbines made in China. More problems are expected with the Three Gorges dam because of a much more complicated operating environment and greater variation in reservoir water level. <P>
When we invited tenders for the turbines years ago, we assumed they would be operating with the reservoir water level high. Based on this assumption, we placed special emphasis on several key technical parameters in the design and manufacture of the turbines. But now things have changed, given that the turbines will be operating with the reservoir level low for most of the year, as all of us have now realized. In these circumstances, a major question must be answered: How will the turbines operate under these changed circumstances? <P>
The manufacture of the Three Gorges turbines might be superior in several respects, given the better materials used and higher quality-control standards. But we are really concerned about the big difference between the operating conditions we assumed when inviting tenders years ago, and the actual conditions that will pertain when the turbines are put into operation a year and half from now. <P>
It needs to be repeatedly emphasized here that we seek to generate "real" electricity and more electricity, rather than electricity as soon as possible. From my own experience, I have seen the following scenario on many occasions: Today a brand-new hydropower station starts generating electricity after a grand ceremony celebrating the completion of the project - and the next day the station has to cease operating for a lengthy period of inspection and repair. Some projects have become unable to generate electricity at all, and, even if they are able to produce electricity, others have had difficulty reaching the designed generating capacity. I have to say the problem stems from "formalism," where the quality of a project is totally ignored in order to pursue the goal of generating electricity as soon as possible. ["Formalism" is a term used to criticize officials who ignore the consequences of events when blindly following orders.] <P>
Two issues are closely linked to the problem of ensuring the effectiveness of the turbines. The first relates to their design, but, as I have just mentioned, we can't do anything about that. The die is cast, since we have signed the contracts with the suppliers. Nothing can be done about the structure of the turbines, but we should from now on be trying to get more information about them: What problems can be expected? What solutions can be sought to deal with those? And, if possible, can we take steps in advance to avoid the problems altogether? <P>
A second issue relates to the quality of the manufacturing and installation of the turbines. As some experts of the inspection group have noted, we are still able to improve the turbine manufacturing and installation processes, to minimize mistakes and weaknesses. To the best of my knowledge, flaws and weaknesses in manufacturing and installation can cause cracks in turbines, especially in ones made domestically. A great deal of attention should be paid to eliminating such unforeseen problems in the production and installation of the turbines. <P>
As for the permanent ship-lock, we have attached more importance to its construction due to a lack of previous experience given that it is the largest such structure in the world. You and I will both be blamed if we cannot sail our boats on the Yangtze after the Three Gorges dam is built. <P>
During the last inspection in December, we showed you a "yellow card" for your work on building the ship-lock because so many flaws were discovered with the pouring of the concrete. We were particularly concerned about whether you would be able to fix the problems in a very short period of time. To tell you the truth, on this inspection trip we were ready to show you a "red card," forcing a halt in construction of the ship-lock if there was no improvement in your work. But after days of inspection, we are delighted to see that you have improved your work and dealt with the problems more carefully by overcoming a series of technical difficulties. <P>
However, we cannot say everything is in perfect order in terms of the quality of the ship-lock. What we can say for certain is that we now have a more detailed understanding of the problems with the ship-lock after days of on-the-spot observation and investigation. And we have asked the supervisory centre of the Wuhan-based Central South Design Institute to submit a written report on the issue. <P>
Pan Jiazheng and Zhang Guangdou, my colleagues and fellow members of the inspection group, have produced a great analysis of the ship-lock quality issue. I agree with their findings and would like to reiterate several main points. <P>
You have done a good job in dealing with the flaws and cracks on the surface of the ship-lock, with some of this work still on-going. But you must get the whole job done - with no hidden problems remaining, and according to the standards originally set. <P>
Pay more attention the issue of temperature variation in the concrete pouring because an unusually hot summer is expected this year. <P>
Special care needs to be taken to ensure the solidity of the concrete, since hollows and other flaws are still being found in some places on the surface of the ship-lock. <P>
We have reached a consensus on dealing with the stagnant water problem affecting the ground projects. I believe we should attach more importance to addressing the problem by increasing the drainage capacity and keeping the drainage systems working well. <P>
In a word, to deal with the ship-lock quality issue, there is a need to strengthen co-operation among a variety of contractors and construction companies so as to create good conditions for the ship-lock to be tested, without water, in the near future. <P>
As for the cracks on the ship-lift, the expert group has not reached a consensus because there has been no time to have a detailed discussion of the issue, though a special report provided by the Changjiang Water Resources Commission is already available. We recommend that the China Planning and Design Academy for Water Conservancy and Hydropower Electricity double-check the report. <P>
I would like to say something more about the turbines. I think we need to rethink the issue from different perspectives. As mentioned above, I hope all of us will study the issue further because it is going to be the toughest and most complex problem affecting the dam project in the future. What really need to rethink how and why we created such a big problem by selecting this particular design and structure for the turbines in the first place. Only through such a rethinking will we be able to raise our awareness and promote the quality of the project. <P>
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