The 10 biggest hydroelectric power stations on Earth, ranked by installed generating capacity in megawatts.
Quick answer: 1. Three Gorges Dam, 2. Baihetan Dam, 3. Itaipu Dam, 4. Xiluodu Dam, 5. Belo Monte Dam, 6. Guri Dam, 7. Wudongde Dam, 8. Tucurui Dam, 9. Grand Coulee Dam, 10. Longtan Dam.
Hydroelectric dams are the largest single power stations humanity has ever built, and a handful of megaprojects tower over the rest. This list ranks the world's 10 biggest by installed (nameplate) capacity — the maximum power their turbines can generate at full output. China dominates the top of the table, home to five of the ten (including the record-holding Three Gorges Dam), while Brazil's cluster of Amazon-basin giants and Venezuela's Guri Dam round out the leaders. It's a reference for anyone comparing the scale of the world's grandest infrastructure.
The largest power station of any kind by installed capacity: 32 main 700 MW generators plus two 50 MW plant generators total 22,500 MW. It also leads the world in annual hydro generation, setting a record of 111.8 TWh in 2020.
The world's second-largest hydro station, with 16 units of 1,000 MW each — the largest single hydro turbines ever built. It reached full operation in December 2022.
Shared by Brazil and Paraguay, this 20-unit dam long held the record for most electricity generated by any hydro plant in a year, thanks to a steady, high-flow section of the Parana.
An arch dam on the Jinsha River with 18 turbines of 770 MW each, fully commissioned in 2014. It is one of China's cascade of Jinsha megaprojects.
Brazil's largest hydro complex, on the Xingu River, pairs a main powerhouse with a smaller supplementary plant. It became fully operational in November 2019.
Also known as the Simon Bolivar dam, this Caroni River station supplies the majority of Venezuela's electricity. Completed in 1986, it was among the world's largest for decades.
A Jinsha River station with 12 turbines of 850 MW each. Its first units came online in June 2020 and it reached full operation in 2021.
A 25-unit gravity dam on the Tocantins River in Para, Brazil, built in two phases completed in 1984 and 2010.
The largest U.S. power station by nameplate capacity, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation on the Columbia River. Its third powerhouse was completed in 1974, with its final generators commissioned by 1980.
A roller-compacted concrete gravity dam on the Hongshui River with nine Francis turbines of 714 MW each, completed in 2009.
| # | Name | Country | River | Year completed | Annual generation (TWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Three Gorges Dam | China | Yangtze | 2012 | 111.8 |
| 2 | Baihetan Dam | China | Jinsha | 2022 | 60.24 |
| 3 | Itaipu Dam | Brazil / Paraguay | Parana | 2007 | 103 |
| 4 | Xiluodu Dam | China | Jinsha | 2014 | 55.2 |
| 5 | Belo Monte Dam | Brazil | Xingu | 2019 | 39.5 |
| 6 | Guri Dam | Venezuela | Caroni | 1986 | 53.41 |
| 7 | Wudongde Dam | China | Jinsha | 2021 | 38.91 |
| 8 | Tucurui Dam | Brazil | Tocantins | 2010 | 41.43 |
| 9 | Grand Coulee Dam | United States | Columbia | 1980 | 20.24 |
| 10 | Longtan Dam | China | Hongshui | 2009 | 18.7 |
Stations are ranked by installed (nameplate) generating capacity in megawatts (MW) — the combined maximum output of all installed turbine-generator units, the standard metric for comparing power-station size. Rank 1 is the highest capacity. Inclusion is limited to conventional hydroelectric power stations (dams and their powerhouses); pumped-storage facilities are excluded. Figures reflect fully commissioned capacity, cross-referenced against Wikipedia's maintained list of largest hydroelectric power stations and, where available, primary operators and record-keepers (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for Grand Coulee, USGS for Three Gorges). Annual generation figures are provided as context but are not the ranking basis.
The Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River is the largest, with an installed capacity of 22,500 MW from 32 main 700 MW generators plus two 50 MW plant generators. It is also the largest power station of any type by installed capacity.
No. Installed (nameplate) capacity is the maximum power the turbines can produce at once, measured in megawatts; actual output over a year is measured in terawatt-hours and depends on water flow. This list ranks by installed capacity, which is why Itaipu ranks third by capacity even though it has at times generated the most electricity in a year of any hydro plant.
China built five of the ten largest hydro stations — including Three Gorges, Baihetan, Xiluodu and Wudongde — as part of a massive cascade of dams on the Yangtze and its Jinsha tributary to meet electricity demand and cut coal reliance.
The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River, operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, is the largest U.S. power station by nameplate capacity at 6,809 MW, ranking ninth in the world.