The world's largest clean energy corridor, consisting of six mega hydropower stations along China's Yangtze River, has produced more than 3,500 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity so far, a driving force for China's green economic and social development, said its operator China Three Gorges Corporation.

The corridor produced more than 276 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity last year, up 5.34 percent year-on-year and equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by around 83 million metric tons and lowering carbon dioxide emissions by more than 200 million tons, it said.

With a total installed capacity of 71.7 million kilowatts, the corridor is comprised of six mega hydropower stations along the Yangtze River, the largest river in China. With 110 generating units, it transmits electricity from the resource-rich west to energy-consuming regions in the east of China.

Four of the stations, Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba, are located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River, while the other two, the Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba, are on the middle section of the river.

They form a 1,800-km-long clean energy corridor that also plays a major role in flood control, shipping, water resource utilization and ecological security in the Yangtze River Basin, said China Three Gorges Corporation.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn