Which dam produces the most electricity

Most notable of these was in when the facility generated ,, megawatt hours, which remains the current world record. Located on the Jinsha river, in the Yunnan province, the dam can generate 13, megawatts. Worldwide, it's the third largest hydroelectric facility in terms of electricity generation.

It is also the fourth tallest dam in the world, measuring at a height of feet Construction began in , and its initial capacity measured megawatts.

By , the dam was updated to facilitate a capacity of megawatts. Today, the dam can generate up to 10, megawatts. Construction began in , and the dam was declared officially completed in The dam can generate as much as 8, megawatts of electricity and brought power to 13 million people.

Trailing behind the Three Gorges Dam and the Xiloudu Dam is Xiangjiaba , China's third most powerful dam and one of the most powerful dams in the world. Located between the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, the dam can generate as much as 6, megawatts. Construction began in and it was officially opened in The Grand Coulee Dam , located in Washington state, is not only one of North America's most powerful dams but also one of the seven civil engineering wonders of the United States.

The enormous structure is comprised of 12 million cubic yards of concrete. Built in , the dam can generate 6, megawatts, making it the most powerful dam in the United States.

Its creation allowed for the generation of electricity needed to produce aluminum during the second World War.

China clearly has something of a monopoly on super-powerful dams. With a capacity of 6, megawatts, the Longtan Dam in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is among the top ten most powerful dams in the world. Its electricity generation isn't the only thing that sets it apart, though. Longtam Dam is also set to improve navigation and trade routes throughout China, thanks to the Longtam ship lift, which looks set to become the biggest ship lift in the world. The Krasnoyarsk Dam in Divognorsk, Russia is considered such an important landmark that it appears on the ruble banknote.

The massive structure was considered to be the most powerful dam in the world in but was later surpassed by the Grand Coulee Dam in America. Today, it is ranked among the top ten most powerful dams in the world, with a capacity of 6, megawatts. The dam has actually affected the region's climate, thanks to the fact that it releases unfrozen water year-round, preventing the river from freezing over in the Winter. Part of the James Bay Project in Quebec, Canada, the Robert-Bourassa Dam is one of the most powerful dams in the world and is situated atop the world's largest underground generating station.

Construction on the dam began in , and it was officially opened in Today, it is a tourist attraction, with visitors coming to enjoy the surrounding nature and the Robert-Bourassa reservoir. Department of Energy estimated that in , non-powered dams in the United States had a total of 12, MW of potential hydropower capacity. Hydropower explained Where hydropower is generated. What is energy? Units and calculators. Use of energy.

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Image: Wikimedia: Luis Felipe Paulinyi. The dam mostly provides electricity to industrial players that also benefit from improved navigation of a tamed river. Image: Flickr: Guri Wasserkraftwerk. Similar to Brazil, Venezuela has made renewable energy the centerpiece of its energy grid. The Guri, in particular, saves the country , barrels of oil a day.

Flooding from the dam created a lake that destroyed thousands of square miles of forest, devastating existing wildlife. The history of the Guri also highlights another potential problem with dams: inconsistent water flow.

A drought in led to widespread rolling blackouts. On the upper section of the river sits the 3rd largest dam in the world, the Xiluodu Dam , which is feet tall and 2, feet wide. It has annual capacity of Image: Flickr: Siemens. The dam offsets about m tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, but , people were displaced to make way for construction.

These dams have already begun to ruin farmland, destroy fish populations and make regions more prone to earthquakes and landslides. Image: Wikimedia: Herr stahlhoefer. It has an annual generating capacity of The concrete used to build the dam could fill football stadiums and the iron and steel could build Eiffel Towers. Like the other dams, the Itaipu has caused biodiversity loss, mass erosion and wildlife destruction and displacement of thousands of families.