List of largest hydroelectric power stations

This article provides a list of the largest hydroelectric power stations, only plants with capacity larger than 2,000 MW are listed.

The Three Gorges Dam complex in Hubei, China, has the world's largest generating capacity and generates the most electricity in the world. It includes 2 generating stations. They are the Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW when completed) and Gezhouba Dam (3,115 MW). As of 2009^[update], the total generating capacity of this complex is 21,515 MW. The whole project is planned to be completed in 2011, when the total generating capacity will be 25,615 MW. In 2008, this complex generated 97.9 TWh of electricity.

Three Gorges Dam (left), Gezhouba Dam (right).

The Itaipu power plant on the Brazil-Paraguay border currently produces second most hydroelectricity in the world. With 20 generator units and 14,000 MW of installed capacity, in 2008 the Itaipu power plant reached a new historic record for electricity production by generating 94.68 terawatt-hours (340,800 TJ).

The Jinsha River (the upper stream of Yangtze River) complex is the largest hydroelectric generating system currently under construction. It has 3 phases. Phase one includes 4 dams on the downstream of the Jinsha River. They are Wudongde Dam, Baihetan Dam, Xiluodu Dam, and Xiangjiaba Dam, with generating capacity of 7,400 MW, 14,000 MW, 12,600 MW, and 6,000 MW respectively. The total generating capacity of those four dams is 40,000 MW. Construction of Xiluodu Dam started on December 26 2005. Construction of Xiangjiaba Dam started on November 26 2006. Phase one is planned to be completed in 2015. Phase two includes 8 dams on the middle stream of the Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 21,150 MW. Phase three includes 8 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 95,745 MW.

* Powered first 24 water turbogenerators

References

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (February 2009)

1. ^ ^{a b} 26 generators installed October 2008, 6 more to be installed in 2011, at which point full generating capacity of 22,500 MW will be achieved.
2. ^ Three Gorges Dam article
3. ^ Itaipu article
4. ^ "Generation Records Fall at Grand Coulee Dam". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. http://www.usbr.gov/pn/news/02new/gcrecord.html. Retrieved 2006-11-18. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Hydro-Québec (April 2009) (pdf). Powering Our Future : Annual Report 2008. Montreal. pp. 125. ISBN 978-2-550-55046-4. http://www.hydroquebec.com/publications/en/annual_report/pdf/annual-report-2008.pdf. 
6. ^ http://energy.people.com.cn/GB/7650064.html
7. ^ Combined US-CA capacity >= 1.6 MW greater than this so would be about 10th place.

See also

• List of hydroelectric power stations
• List of large wind farms