国内英语新闻:Three Gorges power station runs at full capacity amid flooding

WUHAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station on China's Yangtze River is running at full capacity with a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kilowatts, as the reservoir saw its water level rising after several rounds of flooding, the China Three Gorges Corporation said Thursday.

The situation along the Yangtze River has been grim since the Three Gorges Dam saw the river's first flood of the year on July 2.

At 8 a.m. Thursday, the Three Gorges reservoir saw an inflow of 31,000 cubic meters per second, with the water level reaching 155.55 meters.

The power station began to operate at full capacity from 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are forecast to see a new round of floods within the coming days.

The Three Gorges project is a multifunctional water control system, consisting of a 2,309-meter-long and 185-meter-high dam, a five-tier ship lock, and 34 hydropower turbo-generators.