The concept for the project dates back as far as 1918, when Mr. Sun Yat-Sen reportedly suggested in his writings a concept for a dam to ease navigation and use the water as a source of power. In 1945, Dr. John Lucian Savage, an American dam expert, provided a preliminary report on the feasibility of the Three Gorges plan.
The project is estimated to generate up to 84 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, enough to supply 10 to 15 percent of China's energy needs. Chinese estimates put the cost at US$10 billion, but worldwide estimates put the figure closer to between US$20 to US$50 billion.
The project was plagued by environmental concerns arising out of the planned flooding of millions of acres of the Yangtze valley. According to an estimate by International Rivers Network in 2003, nearly two million people needed to be resettled.
