The Three Gorges Dam , the planet’s largest hydroelectric project in China, generated 103.1 billion kWh of electricity in 2020, breaking the world record for annual electricity production.
According to the Global Times, the output of 103.1 billion kWh of electricity was recorded on the morning of November 15 and this number is still increasing. The previous record was held by the Itaipu Dam in South America, with 103.098 billion kWh in 2016.
The Three Gorges Dam in China.
The aforementioned electricity saved 31.71 million tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 86.71 million tons, sulfur by 20,600 tons and nitrogen oxides by 19,600 tons.
The Three Gorges Corporation, the operator of the Three Gorges Dam, affirmed that with the efficient use of water resources, the project helps control and prevent flood water along the Yangtze River basin. The project helps reduce carbon emissions, contributing to China’s efforts to protect the ecological environment.
In 2020, central and southern China experienced a historic rainy season. The Three Gorges Dam has made an important contribution to flood control efforts, suffering a record flood of up to 75,000m3 /s at the end of August.
Through the storage of water in the reservoir, the flood peak has been reduced by about 40%, greatly reducing the flood control pressure in the middle and lower Yangtze River regions.
The Three Gorges Dam is currently the largest hydroelectric project on the planet both in terms of construction scale and generating set size. The project has 32 main generating units and two power plants, with a total capacity of 22,500MW.
Normally, the Three Gorges Dam generates about 88.2 billion kWh of electricity per year.
Western media often criticizes the Three Gorges Dam as a project that has great impacts on the environment and society, has no anti-flood effect as planned and always has the potential for disaster if the dam breaks.