List of largest hydroelectric power stations

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Three Gorges Dam (left), Gezhouba Dam (right) Three gorges dam from space.jpg
Three Gorges Dam (left), Gezhouba Dam (right)

This article provides a list of the largest hydroelectric power stations by generating capacity. Only plants with capacity larger than 3,000 MW are listed.

Contents

The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, China, has the world's largest instantaneous generating capacity (22,500 MW), with Baihetan Dam from the same nation in second place with a capacity of (16,000 MW). The Itaipu Dam in Paraguay/Brazil is the third largest with (14,000 MW). Despite the large difference in installed capacity between Three Gorges Dam and Itaipu Dam, they generate nearly equal amounts of electrical energy during the course of an entire year - Itaipu 103 TWh in 2016 [1] and Three Gorges 111.8 TWh in 2020, [2] because the Three Gorges experiences six months per year when there is very little water available to generate power, while the Paraná River that feeds the Itaipu has a much lower seasonal variance in flow. Energy output of the Three Gorges reaches 125 TWh in years of high feed availability.

The Three Gorges (22,500 MW - 32 × 700 MW and 2 × 50 MW) is operated jointly with the much smaller Gezhouba Dam (2,715 MW), the total generating capacity of this two-dam complex is 25,215 MW. The Itaipu on the Brazil–Paraguay border has 20 generator units with overall 14,000 MW of installed capacity, however the maximum number of generating units allowed to operate simultaneously cannot exceed 18 (12,600 MW).

The Jinsha River (the upper stream of Yangtze River) complex is the largest hydroelectric generating system currently under construction. It has three phases. Phase one includes four dams on the downstream of the Jinsha River. They are Wudongde Dam, Baihetan Dam, Xiluodu Dam, and Xiangjiaba Dam, with generating capacity of 10,200 MW, 16,000 MW, 13,860 MW, and 7,798 MW respectively. Phase two includes eight dams on the middle stream of the Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 21,150 MW. Phase three includes eight dams on the upper stream of the Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 8,980 MW. The total combined capacity of the Jinsha complex with the Three Gorges complex will be 103,203 MW.

Preliminary plans exist for the construction of the next largest hydroelectric power station with an installed capacity of 39,000 MW. [3] The Project is called Grand Inga and is planned to be realised on the lower Congo River. [4] China is said to have been working on a 50,000 MW [5] dam as part of the Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric and Water Diversion Project. Another proposal, Penzhin Tidal Power Plant, presumes an installed capacity up to 87,100 MW.

The largest hydroelectric power stations top the list of the largest power stations of any kind, are among the largest hydraulic structures and are some of the largest artificial structures in the world.

List

Completed

Only operational power stations with an installed capacity of at least 3,000 MW. Some of these may have additional units under construction, but only current installed capacity is listed.

Under construction

This table lists stations under construction with an expected installed capacity at least 3,000 MW.

Name Country Location River Expected
capacity (MW) 		Expected
completion
TaSang Flag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar 20°27′23″N98°39′0″E / 20.45639°N 98.65000°E / 20.45639; 98.65000 Salween 7,110 ?? (on hold)
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 11°12′51″N35°05′35″E / 11.21417°N 35.09306°E / 11.21417; 35.09306 (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) Blue Nile 5,150 [note 6] 2022-? [33] [34]
Diamer-Bhasha Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 35°31′08″N73°47′10″E / 35.51889°N 73.78611°E / 35.51889; 73.78611 (Diamer-Bhasha Dam) Indus River 4,5002029 [35]
Dasu Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 35°31′10″N73°44′21″E / 35.51944°N 73.73917°E / 35.51944; 73.73917 (Dasu Dam) Indus River 4,3202026
Rogun Flag of Tajikistan.svg  Tajikistan 38°41′03″N69°46′26″E / 38.68417°N 69.77389°E / 38.68417; 69.77389 (Rogun Dam) Vakhsh 3,600 [36] [note 7] 2018 [37] -2029
Myitsone Flag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar 25°41′23″N97°31′04″E / 25.68972°N 97.51778°E / 25.68972; 97.51778 Irrawaddy 3,600 ?? (on hold)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Generating capacity is not the only factor determining the amount of electricity generated, as this also depends on consistent utilization of the plant's capacity. Factors enhancing this are the free capacity of the reservoir and the consistency of water supply during and across years.
  2. ↑ first unit installed in 1984, 18th in 1991; in 2003 2 additional units were installed
  3. ↑ first unit installed in 1942, 18th in 1950, 21st in 1991; 6 units in third powerplant were installed between 1975 and 1980, 2 units of pumped-storage plant were installed in 1973, 4 more units in 1983 and 1984
  4. ↑ 10 units were installed between 1985 and 1989, after 2009 failure new units were installed between 2010 and 2014
  5. ↑ Combined with adjacent La Grande-2-A the LG-2 complex has 7,722 MW of installed capacity
  6. ↑ 750 MW commissioned as of August 2022
  7. ↑ 760 MW commissioned as of October 2021

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Gorges Dam</span> Dam in Yiling District, Hubei, China

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW), the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20 TWh of electricity per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin. After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam's annual production reached nearly 112 TWh, breaking the previous world record of ~103 TWh set by Itaipu Dam in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itaipu Dam</span> Dam along the Brazil–Paraguay border

The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and holds the 45th largest reservoir in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jinsha River</span> Chinese river, part of the Yangtze

The Jinsha River or Lu river, is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge.

The Xiangjiaba Dam is a large gravity dam on the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province in southwest China. The facility has eleven Francis turbines, four with a capacity of 812 MW and four rated at 800 MW and three with 450 MW, totalling an installed capacity of 7,798 MW. Xiangjiaba Dam is China's fourth-biggest hydropower station following Three Gorges Dam, Baihetan Dam and Xiluodu Dam. Construction started on November 26, 2006, and its first generator was commissioned in October 2012. The last generator was commissioned on July 9, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wudongde Dam</span> Dam in China

The Wudongde Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwest China.

The Baihetan Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, in southwest China. The dam is a 289-meter-tall double-curvature arch dam with a crest elevation of 827 m, and a width of 72 m at the base and 13 m at the crest. It is considered to be the last large hydropower project in China after a series of projects starting with the Three Gorges Dam. It is also the second largest hydropower plant in the world. The hydropower station is equipped with 16 hydro-generating units each having a capacity of 1 billion Watts, the world's largest turbines. All hydro-generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station became fully operational on 20 December 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ertan Dam</span> Dam in Sichuan, China

The Ertan Dam is an arch dam on the Yalong River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province, in southwest China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Yangtze Power</span>

China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd. (CYPC), known as Yangtze Power is a Chinese utilities company, headquartered in Beijing. The company is a component of SSE 180 Index. A controlling share is held by the parent company China Three Gorges Corporation, a state-owned enterprise under State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The Jinping-II Dam, also known as the Jinping-II Hydropower Station, is a gravity dam on the Jinping Bend of the Yalong River in Sichuan, China. Construction on the project began in 2007 and it was complete in 2014. Its hydroelectric power station has a 4,800 MW installed capacity.

The Pangduo Hydro Power Station is a reservoir and dam on the Lhasa River in Lhünzhub County to the east of Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The primary purposes are hydroelectric power generation and agricultural irrigation. Work started in 2008. The first turbine came into production in 2013 and the other three turbines in 2014. With annual generation capacity of 599 million kilowatt hours, it has been called the "Tibetan Three Gorges". Nevertheless, the comparison is hyperbole since the dam is only able to impound less than 1/30th that of Three Gorges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydroelectricity in China</span>

Hydroelectricity is currently China's largest renewable energy source and the second overall after coal. According to the International Hydropower Association, China is the worlds largest producer of hydroelectricity as of 2021. China's installed hydroelectric capacity in 2021 was 390.9 GW, including 36.4 GW of pumped storage hydroelectricity capacity, up from 233 GW in 2011. That year, hydropower generated 1,300 TWh of power, an increase of 68 TWh over 2018 when hydropower generated 1,232 TWh of power, accounting for roughly 18% of China's total electricity generation.

Kafue Gorge Lower Power Station (KGL), is a 750 megawatts (1,010,000 hp) hydroelectric power station in Zambia.

The Suwalong Hydropower Station, is the hydropower project that is located in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River at the junction of Mangkam County in Tibet and Batang County in Sichuan. It is the first installed million-kilowatt-level hydropower station in Tibet.

The Jiacha Hydropower Station, also named Gacha Hydropower Station, is the second largest hydropower station built in Tibet, located in Gyaca County on the middle reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo, with a total installed capacity of 360 MW and a designed annual generation capacity of 1.705 billion kWh.

References

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  35. ↑ "Work on Dasu project resumes". 16 October 2021.
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