Energy · 2012

Three Gorges Dam

The largest power station ever built reaches 22.5 GW.

Three Gorges on the Yangtze reached its full 22.5 GW in 2012 with 32 main turbines of 700 MW. It generates around 100 TWh in a good year and relies on HVDC lines to deliver power to Shanghai and Guangdong.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Ultra-high-voltage DC lines 2010
Francis turbine 1849

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Share of electricity from low-carbon sources Latest: 42.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data

World electricity generation Latest: 31.8k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data