 Except for a ship lift , the dam project was completed and fully functional as of July 4 , 2012 , when the last of the main water turbines in the underground plant began production . The ship lift was complete in December 2015 . Each main water turbine has a capacity of 700 MW . The dam body was completed in 2006 . Coupling the dam 's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators ( 50 MW each ) to power the plant itself , the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22 @,@ 500 MW . 
