Dams are one of the most spectacular structures ever built by mankind, and they are of great significance no matter where they are located. Dams are usually large; large. But which ones are the biggest? Well, it depends on how you look at it-here we will look at the water capacity, but there are other comparisons (such as total height or energy produced).
Hydroelectric power is the most commonly used source of renewable electricity. It is also considered to be the lowest cost power source in many markets, at approximately $0.047 per kilowatt hour. China is the main producer of hydropower, followed by other major producers such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, India and Russia.
Most dams have a reservoir, a gate or valve to control how much water flows out of the reservoir, and an outlet or place where the water eventually reaches after it flows down. The water gains potential energy before it overflows the top of the dam or flows down. It is then converted into kinetic energy that can be used to generate electricity.
There are several types of hydroelectric power plants. The most common one is called a “water storage facility”, in which a dam is used to control the flow of water stored in a reservoir. When more energy is needed, water is released from the dam. Once the water is released, it flows down through the turbine and the blades provide power to the generator.
The other type is the “diversion facility”, which does not use a dam. Instead, it uses a series of canals to direct the flowing river water to turbines driven by generators. Finally, the third category is called “pumped storage facilities”, which store energy by pumping water up from lower-altitude pools to higher-altitude reservoirs.
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The dam is located in the former Kariba Gorge and forms Lake Kariba-with a water storage capacity of 185 billion cubic meters and a surface area of 5580 square kilometers. This huge dam is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The construction of the dam began in 1956 and was completed in 1959. The dam supplies approximately 6700 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year and is produced by the Kariba North and South Bank companies. It has paid a huge price, relocating more than 30,000 Batunka tribesmen in Zambia and evacuating thousands of wild animals.
Some Africans initially opposed the construction of the dam, seeing it as a symbol of the unpopular Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation, which disintegrated into Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Zambia in 1963. But later due to the low price of electricity, the dam was accepted as it provided conditions for Zambia’s prosperous copper industry.
It is located in Siberia and has a reservoir of 169.27 billion cubic meters, making it the second largest dam in the world. The dam is located on the Angara River, with a reservoir area of 5,540 square kilometers. It is 125 meters high and 1452 meters long, with railway lines and highways on top, and an installed capacity of 4500 MW
Construction was completed in 1965. Facts have proved that this is very difficult because winter temperatures in Siberia can be as low as -58ºC and there are 281 days of frost each year. In addition, the city of Bratsk where it is located is very far from the supply of materials and labor. The other three dams are also located along the Angara River (Irkutsk, Ust-Ilim and Bogučani).
Also known as the Volta Dam, it is the third largest dam based on water storage capacity. It was built on the Volta River and created 8,500 square kilometers of Volta Lake, which is the largest reservoir in the world with the largest surface area. The dam crest is 700m long and 134m high, involving 12 million cubic meters of surface excavation.
With financial support from the World Bank, the United States and the United Kingdom, it was built between 1961 and 1965. Although it now provides energy for Ghana, Benin and Togo, its original purpose was to provide electricity to the aluminum industry. In a project in 2006, its power output was upgraded to 1.02 MW.
This dam, also known as the Manic 5 Dam, is located on the Manicouagan River and forms the Manicouagan Reservoir with a storage capacity of 139.8 billion cubic meters. The reservoir is the fourth largest reservoir in the world. The dam is 213,9 meters high and 1,310 meters long. It was constructed using 2.2 million cubic meters of concrete.
The dam is managed by Quebec Hydropower and was built from 1959 to 1968 and has an installed capacity of 2,660 megawatts. It is named after the 20th Prime Minister of Quebec, Daniel Johnson, who was responsible for launching the project during his tenure. He died on the day when he was supposed to preside over the inauguration ceremony of the dam.
The official name of the fifth largest dam calculated by the size of the reservoir is the Simon Bolivar Hydropower Station. It is located in Venezuela and has a reservoir of 135 billion cubic meters. The dam is 162 meters high and 7.5 kilometers long. For many years, it was the most powerful in the world, with a capacity of 10,200 MW.
The project was carried out in two phases, starting in 1963 and 1986 respectively. The modernization project of the dam is currently underway. It is located 100 kilometers upstream of the Karoni River in the Nequima Canyon in the Orinoco region. The Venezuelan company CVG Electrification del Caroni (Edelca) operates and maintains the plant.
This is the largest dam on the Nile in Egypt and the sixth largest dam in the world. Its reservoir, Lake Nasser, is named after former President Nasser, and has a storage capacity of 132 billion cubic meters. It generates 2,100 megawatts and also provides water for agriculture in Egypt and Sudan.
The dam was built after the Aswan Low Dam built in 1902. Based on the success of low dams and then to maximize utilization, the construction of high dams has become the main goal of the government. The dam is regarded as the key to Egypt’s industrialization, with the ability to control floods and generate electricity.
The dam, built on the Pease River in British Columbia, has a storage capacity of approximately 74 billion cubic meters and covers an area of 1,773 square kilometers, ranking seventh. At the dam, the Finlay, Parsnip and Peace rivers flow into Lake Williston, also known as Williston Reservoir, as part of the project.
The dam was named after the former prime minister of the province, who made its construction part of the economic development plan. Construction began in 1961 and was completed in 1967 at a cost of 750 million U.S. dollars. It has an installed capacity of 2,790 megawatts and started generating electricity in 1968 and is operated by BC Hydro.
It is the eighth largest dam in the world, located on the Yenisei River in Siberia. It created the Krasnoyarskoye Reservoir with a storage capacity of 73.3 billion cubic meters. It was the largest single power plant in the world until the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State reached 6,181 megawatts in 1983-more than the current 6.000 megawatts.
The dam was built between 1956 and 1972 and was mainly used to provide energy for the local Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant. Its construction was such an important development for the country that the government decided to portray the dam on a 10-ruble banknote-it was launched in 1998, but it was discontinued in 2010.
The dam was built from 1964 to 1975 on the Zeya River in the Russian Amur Region, north of the Chinese border. The Zeya Reservoir with a storage capacity of 68.42 billion cubic meters has been built, which is the ninth dam calculated by the capacity of the reservoir. The area of the reservoir is 2,419 square kilometers.
The power plant of the dam consists of six generator sets with a total installed capacity of 1,290 MW. The dam is 112 meters high and 714 meters long, and uses more than 2 billion cubic meters of concrete. The Baikal-Amur main line extends along the northern bank, where a bridge was built.
The dam, formerly known as La Grande-2, is located in Quebec, Canada, and has a 61.7 billion cubic meter reservoir covering an area of nearly 3 square kilometers. The dam is owned by Quebec Hydropower and was built from 1974 to 1981. The current installed capacity is 5,616 MW.
The dam is named after Robert Bourassa, the former governor who oversaw the James Bay project, which built a series of hydroelectric power plants and expanded its territory to create one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world. It is located next to the La Grande-2-A factory, which was put into use in 1991-1992.
According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by 2050, the world’s existing installed hydropower capacity will need to increase by about 60% to reach 2,150 GW to help control the temperature rise well below 2ºC Internally, this is in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change. ). This will create approximately 600,000 jobs in the next ten years.
Although it is sometimes questioned because of the relocation of communities and the impact on the surrounding environment, hydropower also has many advantages. They are a clean energy source and will not pollute the air like fossil fuel-burning power plants. The energy produced depends on the water cycle, making it a reliable and economical power source.
Fermin Koop is a journalist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds a master’s degree in environment and development from the University of Reading (UK), specializing in environmental and climate change journalism.
Post time: Nov-05-2021
