The Largest Dam in The World - Three Gorges Dam, China
The Three Gorges Dam in China is projected to be the absolute largest in the world. Expected to hold over 39,300,000,000 in volume, the reservoir is complete but the actual dam itself will not be completed until later this year. The construction of this dam had a huge impact on life in Sandouping, resulting not only in the relocation of dozens of villages but in the scenery as well. Because of the height of the Three Gorges Dam the mountains now look a bit lower than they actually are. The dam stands 185m high and 2,309m wide making it the world's largest hydro plant in the world, well ahead of Brazil's 12,600MW Itaipu installation.
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, at the Hubei province, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind. The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, all of the originally planned components of the project were completed on October 30, 2008 when the 26th generator was brought into commercial operation.
Currently, it contains 26 completed generators in the shore power plant, each with a capacity of 700 MW. Six additional generators in the underground power plant are being installed and are not expected to become fully operational until around 2011. Coupling the dam's 32 main generators with 2 smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam will eventually reach 22,500 MW.
Currently, it contains 26 completed generators in the shore power plant, each with a capacity of 700 MW. Six additional generators in the underground power plant are being installed and are not expected to become fully operational until around 2011. Coupling the dam's 32 main generators with 2 smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam will eventually reach 22,500 MW.
The project produces hydroelectricity, increases the river's navigation capacity, and reduces the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. From completion until September 2009 the dam has generated 348.4 TWh of electricity, covering more than one third of its project cost.
The idea of building a gigantic dam on the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area was proposed more than 80 years ago by Sun Yat-sen. After severe flooding along the river in the 1950s, Chairman Mao Tse Tung vowed to speed up construction of a massive dam but nothing significant happened for several more decades. In 1986, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power asked the Canadian government to finance a feasibility study to be conducted by a consortium of Canadian firms.
The consortium, known as CIPM Yangtze Joint Venture, included three private companies (Acres International, SNC, and Lavelin International), and two state-owned utilities (Hydro-Quebec International and British Columbia Hydro International). On April 3, 1992, the National People’s Congress officially approved the construction of the project. On December 14, 1994, the Chinese government formally began construction and the first electricity was produced in 2003
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