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The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China is the world’s largest dam, completed in 2006. It will generate 18.2 GW of power and reduce major downstream floods. However, over 1 million people had to be evacuated for its construction, and it has been controversial due to its cost and potential environmental impact.
The largest dam in the world is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China. Structural work was completed in 2006. The dam is 2,309 m (1.4 mi) long and 185 m 607 feet high, six times the size of the Hoover Dam. When its generators are up and running in early 2009, it will be the largest power plant in the world. The Three Gorges Dam will generate 18.2 GW, or about 2 percent of China’s total energy consumption. China’s exploding economy needs energy, and considerable efforts have been made towards alternative forms of energy that do not pollute the air, since China’s main energy source is coal.
The Three Gorges Dam has been at the center of controversy since its construction was announced. Over 1,000,000 people had to be evacuated to avoid the flood basin it created, which is 660 km (410 miles) long and submerges 632 square km of land. 1,200 towns and villages have been relocated in preparation for its construction. Following an accident in 1975 during Super Typhoon Nina, in which 140,000 people were killed due to a catastrophic dam failure, extra precautions were taken in the engineering and fault tolerance of the Three Gorges Dam. It will be guarded by large numbers of soldiers around the clock to deter possible terrorist attacks.
Despite frequent criticisms that the costs of the Three Gorges Dam could reach 100 billion US dollars (USD), the actual cost is not expected to exceed 22.5 billion dollars. Most of this is paid for by a national electricity tax. Officials said the dam will pay for itself in power generation.
Part of the dam’s role is also to engage in flood control. It will reduce the number of major downstream floods from once every 10 years to once every 100 years. Its massive 22 cubic kilometer reservoir will regulate the flow of water, increasing during major floods and releasing the water at a uniform rate, saving people downstream from the devastating economic effects of flooding. The Three Gorges Dam reservoir will be 200 m (219 yd) deep when fully flooded.
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