Video: The largest hydroelectric power plants in the world: a thematic overview
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-10 02:10
Water has long been used by people as one of the main sources of energy. The inventions of the water mill opened up broad prospects for the modernization of agricultural work, and the discovery of electricity and the creation of the first electric generators became a defining milestone in scientific and technological progress. For the first time, the scheme of the power plant was developed in 1878 in Cragsad (Northumberland) by the English engineer George Armstrong. And the first in the world power station appeared at Niagara Falls in 1881. In our review, we will tell you about the most ambitious projects that mankind has managed to implement over the next century.
Today, hydroelectric power plants provide 16% of the world's electricity production, so it is difficult to overestimate their importance for the whole world. Among the leading countries in hydropower are China, Paraguay, Norway, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Venezuela.
The world's largest power plant is considered Chinese Dam "Three Gorges" on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province. Its capacity is 22,500 MW, dimensions are 2,335 m in length and 181 m in height. Its construction required so much concrete and steel that 63 Eiffel Towers could easily be built from this amount. The dam project cost the state $ 22.5 billion, and today the Three Gorges is one of the main achievements of engineering in China. Environmentalists admit that the construction of the dam negatively affected the life of fish in the Yangtze River, but it allowed to significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases and dust emitted into the atmosphere, since before that the lion's share of energy was produced by burning coal.
The most powerful power plant in the world - "Itaipu" - built on the Parana river on the border between Brazil and Paraguay … Its annual profitability averages 91-95 billion kWh, which is much higher than that of the Three Gorges. The hydroelectric power station provides 90% of the electricity needs of Paraguay and 19% of Brazil. For the construction of Itaipu, the 150th canal in the rocks was pierced, and the main channel of the Parana River was drained. The concrete spent on the construction of this giant would be enough for 210 football stadiums, iron and steel - for 380 Eiffel Towers, and the volume of the earthen embankment would be 8.5 times larger than the tunnel under the English Channel.
Power plant closes the three world leaders "Guri" in Venezuela. Among the largest are also dams. "Tukurui" (Brazil), "Grand Coulee" (USA), Longtan (China). The Russians, of course, also have something to brag about. Our Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP on the Yenisei River ranks 6th in the world among operating power plants in terms of installed capacity. The arched-gravity dam is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most reliable hydraulic structure of this type.
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