The developer of the Three Gorges Dam said it would issue 3 billion yuan (US$361.4 million) 30-year corporate bonds Friday to fund construction of the second phase of the world's largest hydropower facility.

It is the sixth bond issue by China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp since the 180-billion-yuan (US$13.0 billion) massive project began construction in 1993. It has raised a total of 16 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion) from the bond issue so far.

"We regard it an important financing method to issue medium- to long-term corporate bonds to finance the project," said the company in a statement published in China Securities Journal Wednesday.

The bond will carry a coupon rate of 4.86 per cent, said the company in a statement published in the China Securities Journal. The offer will close on August 14.

The bonds, rated "AAA" by China Chengxin International Credit Rating, will be guaranteed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

They will be traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, subject to regulatory approval. CITIC Securities is the lead underwriter.

Apart from the proceeds of 3.0 billion yuan raised through this bond issue, the company said it still needs to borrow 1.8 billion yuan (US$216.8 million) from commercial banks this year.

A sum of 14.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) will be injected into the second phase of the project which will be completed this year.

Upon final completion in 2009, all 26 generators on the dam across the Yangtze River, each with a generating capacity of 700,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), will begin commercial operation.

The first power generating unit of the Three Gorges Project was in operation on July 10 and the national power grid is now receiving electricity generated from the Three Gorges hydroelectric station.

Four out of the 26 units are to begin generating 5.5 billion kWh of electricity this year, supplying Shanghai and eight provinces in the central and eastern regions of the country.

The company's subsidiary, China Yangtze Electric Power Corp, has received approval recently to launch a domestic A-share IPO to raise more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) over the coming months. It was reported by mainland media that the company is also targeting listings on the Hong Kong and overseas stock exchanges after the domestic issue.

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