The world's largest hydro power station

       

The Three Gorges dam celebrated the completion of the construction of its dam today. The 22 GW project, 185 meters high and 2.3 km long sets over a hundred world records.

Three Gorges is not without controversy, with environmental activists expressing concern on its impact a.o. on the buildup of silt, landslides, seismic activity and water pollution. The dam also needed to remove 1.3 million people from their homes in order to make place for the huge water reservoir.

At full capacity, the project is expected to generate 85 TWh of electricity per year. Compared to the world's average CO2 emissions for electricity generation, it therefore avoids 60 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, another factor to consider in making the balance on this project.