The Three Gorges Dam project in Hubei, China, is the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant complex as regard generating capacity. It includes 2 generating stations. They are the Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW when completed) and Gezhouba Dam (3,115MW). The total generating capacity of this complex is currently at 21,515 MW. The whole project is planned to be completed in 2011. The total generating capacity will be 25,615 MW by then. In 2008, this complex generated 97.9 TWh of electricity.
The Itaipu power plant in Brazil-Paraguay border,is currenly the largest single hydroelectric power plant in the world as regards the generation of energy. With 20 generator units and 14,000 MW of installed power, In 2008, the Itaipu power plant reached a new historic record for electricity production by generating 94.7 TWh (94,684,781 MWh).In generation Itaipu capacity will remain the most important, because the hydrological regime of the Paraná River has increased flow of water that the Yangtze River .
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 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 complete in 2015. Phase two includes 8 dams on the middle stream of Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 21,150 MW. Phase three includes 8 dams on the upper stream of Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 8,980 MW. The total capacity of the complex is 68,630 MW.
Hydraulic Energy 