The big ones are enormous
Every industry has its own top 10 list. In the power generation business, like everything else, being the biggest carries clout and bragging rights. Table below, from data provided by Electric Light & Power, lists the world’s top 10 generation stations. All the big ones are either large hydro or nuclear sites with multiple reactors. Only 2 of the top 10 are in the US or Canada, none in Europe.
The current record holder, the Three Gorges Dam, spans the mighty Yangtze River, the longest in Asia. According to Chines folklore, Sun Yat-Sen first envisioned building a dam at the site in 1919. Chiang Kai-shek, the President of the Republic of China, who later fled to Taiwan, had similar plans in 1932. After WWII, Mao Zedong dreamed of harnessing the power of the Yangtze River, but was distracted by other priorities. Construction finally began in 1994 and was completed in 2012, displacing some 1.3 million people in the process.
A proposed project to build the Grand Inga Dam in Congo, if it ever comes to fruition, envisions 39 GW of capacity, topping even the mighty Three Gorges Dam. Records, as everyone knows, are made to be broken.
