Hubei has an excellent energy reserve with an exploitable capacity of 33.1 million kw. It is ranked the leading place of Chinese power field. Gezhouba Hydroelectric Station, currently under construction, is located in Hubei province. With more than 600 electric enterprises are set up, its installed capacity is ranked second in China. With its hydropower plants, Hubei speeds up a series of thermal power plants. The Three Gorges Key Water Conservancy Project with an installed capacity of 18.20 million kw is under construction.

Hubei is also rich in metal minerals. These metal minerals whose reserves rank the second place in China. Other ten minerals range from the 3rd to the 8th places in China. Iron reserves ranks 6th and copper reserves ranks 7th in China. Rich copper reserves containing copper above 1% take up 10.9% of China is rich copper reserves. Nonmetal reserves are also large in quantity. The results of a preliminary survey ranked Hubei fifth for its salt reserves of 25 billion tons.

Hubei is abundant in water resources. Its total hydropower deposits are 42 million kw of which 38 million kw are usable. The Three Gorges Hydropower Station, upon station of the world, generates up to 84.7 billion kwh of electricity each year.

Gezhouba Hydropower Station is the first hydropower station in the trunk of the Yangtze River, with an installed capacity of 2.73 million kw. Other famous hydropower stations include Qingjiang Geheyan Hydropower Station and Danjiangkou Hydropower Station. In 1999, electricity generated bu Hubei’s hydropower stations reached 22.5 billion kwh.

Since 1978, Hubei has set up several thermal power stations in Hanchuan, Yangluo, Ezhou and Xiangfan. Other thermal power stations currently under construction or to constructed at a later time are located in Huanggang, Yichang, Jingzhou and Puqi. In 1999, electricity generated in thermal power stations was 28.3 billion kwh.

Mineral resources

Hubei province boosts rich mineral resources, among which 136 kinds have already been discovered (not including sub-minerals) thus making up 81% of all the mineral kinds discovered in China.

87 kinds or 50 percent of Chinese minerals with proved reserves were found in Hubei. 49 kinds reserves were left unproved.

80 minerals have been put on the Hubei Mineral Reserves List, with gasoline, gas, geothermy, uranium, etc, excluded. 956 mining areas and 1,287 orefields were also listed.

Large scaled and oversized orefields make up 6.9 percent in the 1287, while small and medium sized ones 90 percent.

The remaining resource reserves of 57 minerals are ranked top ten in the country. China calculated the potential value of mineral reserves based on the remaining reserves by the end of 2000. Hubei had 1,472.8 billion yuan ranked 14th in the country.