Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam (simplified Chinese: 三峡大坝; traditional Chinese: 三峽大壩; pinyin: Sānxiá Dàbà) is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW), the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20 TWh of electricity per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin. After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam's annual production reached nearly 112 TWh, breaking the previous world record of ~103 TWh set by Itaipu Dam in 2016.

The dam's body was completed in 2006; the power plant was completed and fully operational by 2012, when the last of the main water turbines in the underground plant began production. Each of the main water turbines has a capacity of 700 MW. Combining the capacity of the dam's 32 main turbines with the two smaller generators (50 MW each) that provide power to the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the Three Gorges Dam is 22,500 MW. The last major component of the project, the ship lift, was completed in 2015.

In addition to generating electricity, the dam was designed to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity. By providing flood storage space, the dam reduces the potential for flooding downstream, which historically plagued the Yangtze Plain. In 1931, floods on the river caused the deaths of up to 4 million people. As a result, China regards the project as a monumental social and economical success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. But the dam has led to some ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides, which have made it controversial domestically and abroad.