rediff.com
News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » Business » 20 biggest power plants in the world
This article was first published 12 years ago

20 biggest power plants in the world

Last updated on: August 9, 2012 08:26 IST

Image: Workmen hang from the power lines for a railway line on the outskirts of Beijing.
Photographs: David Gray/Reuters

The United States, China and Japan are the world's largest producers of electricity. India has the fifth-largest electricity-generation capacity in the world. It has an installed capacity of over 152 gigawatts (1 gigawatt is equal to 1 billion watts).

Let's take a look at some of the biggest power plants in the world.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: The Three Gorges Dam Project discharges flood water to lower the water level in the reservoir in Yichang, China.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

Three Gorges Dam (China)

Capacity: 18,460 MW

Global rank: 1

The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydropower project. Built on the Yangtze River in China, its construction began in 1994 and was fully operational in 2011.

It is expected to produce as much as 22.5 gigawatts of power.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A view of the Itaipu Hydroelectric dam.
Photographs: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

Itaipu power plant (Brazil)

Capacity: 14,750 MW

Global rank: 2

The second-largest hydroelectric power plant on the Brazil-Paraguay border currently has over 20 generator units.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A view of Guri dam and the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Power Station, in the southern state of Bolivar, Venezuela.
Photographs: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Simon Bolivar (Venezuela)

Capacity: 10,055 MW

Global rank: 3

Venezuela meets 82 per cent of its electricity needs from the Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Power Station.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A cargo barge enters a lock of the Tucurui dam on the Tocantins River, Brazil.
Photographs: Paulo Santos/Reuters

Tucurui (Brazil)

Capacity: 8,370 MW

Global rank: 4

Tucurui is the third-largest power generator in Brazil, representing 10 per cent of Brazil's installed capacity.

...

Tags: Brazil

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A man fishes near Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Kashiwazaki, Japan.
Photographs: Toru Hanai/Reuters

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (Japan)

Capacity: 8,206 MW

Global rank: 5

Owned and operated by The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the largest nuclear generating station in the world by net electrical power rating.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Students, walking to school, are dwarfed by power towers as they fight their way across an open field, during a winter storm, in Pickering east of Toronto.
Photographs: Andy Clark/Reuters

Bruce Power (Canada)

Capacity: 6,830 MW

Global rank: 6

Bruce Power is Canada's first private nuclear generator.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Mechanics work on an electricity pylon in the steppe area near the village of Solyonoozyornoye in Russia's Khakassia region.
Photographs: Ilya Naymushin/Reuters

Sayanao-Shushenskaya Dam (Russia)

Capacity: 6,500 MW

Global rank: 7

Located on the Yenisei River in Russia, it is the largest power plant in Russia and the sixth-largest hydroelectric plant in the world.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Grand Coulee Dam, Washington, United States.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

Grand Coulee (United States)

Capacity: 6,495 MW

Global rank: 8

Grand Coulee is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in Washington. It is the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States and one of the largest concrete structures in the world.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Labourers install electronic cables on power poles in Hefei, China.
Photographs: Jianan Yu/Reuters

Longtan (China)

Capacity: 6,426 MW

Global rank: 9

Longtan Dam is a large roller-compacted concrete gravity dam on the Hongshui River in China.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A passenger train moves along a railway along the banks of the Yenisei River near the village of Sliznevo, outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Photographs: Ilya Naymushin/Reuters

Krasnoyarsk (Russia)

Capacity: 6,000 MW

Global rank: 10

The Krasnoyarsk Dam is a 124-metre (407 ft) high concrete gravity dam located on the Yenisey River in Divnogorsk, Russia.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A woman sits on a bench and looks at her tablet in a park in Kiev, Ukraine.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

Zaporizhzhya (Ukraine)

Capacity: 6,000 MW

Global rank: 11

The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant on the bank of Kakhovsky reservoir is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Transmission towers carrying solar and thermoelectric power from the Korea South East Power Co. plant are seen in Ansan, South Korea.
Photographs: Jo Yong hak/Reuters

Poryong (South Korea)

Capacity: 5,954 MW

Global rank: 12

The Poryong plant is operated by Korea Electric Power company. The world's sixth-largest nuclear power producer, South Korea operates 21 nuclear power plants commercially.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Transmission towers carrying solar and thermoelectric power from the Korea South East Power Company plant in Ansan.
Photographs: Jo Yong hak/Reuters

Ulchin (South Korea)

Capacity: 5,900 MW

Global rank: 13

Ulchin is one among the 21 nuclear generating stations in South Korea.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A view of Myeongdong shopping district in central Seoul.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

Yonggwang (South Korea)

Capacity: 5,900 MW

Global rank: 14

The Yonggwang plant, one of the largest nuclear plants in South Korea, has been operating six reactors since 1978.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: People ride their bicycles in front of wind turbines that generate electricity in Gaomei Wetland in Taichung, Taiwan.
Photographs: Nicky Loh/Reuters

Taichung Power plant (Taiwan)

Capacity: 5,834 MW

Global rank: 15

The Taichung Power Plant is the largest coal-fired power station in the world.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Kites fly in the sky as the Gravelines nuclear power plant is seen across the beach in Petit Fort Philippe, northern France.
Photographs: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Gravelines (France)

Capacity: 5,706 MW

Global rank: 16

The Gravelines Nuclear Power Station is the fifth-largest nuclear power station in the world.

...

Tags: , France

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: A view Tokyo Electric Power Company's Futtsu Thermal Power Station in Japan.
Photographs: Toru Hanai/Reuters

Futtsu (Japan)

Capacity: 5,598 MW

Global rank: 17

The Futtsu Power Station is the second-largest gas-fired power station in the world. The facility is owned by Tepco.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: The Paluel nuclear plant is seen across fields in Paluel, northern France.
Photographs: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

Paluel (France)

Capacity: 5,528 MW

Global rank: 18

Operated by EDF, the nuclear power station consists of four 1330 MWe class pressurised water reactors.

...

Tags: EDF , France

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: The EDF nuclear power station of Cattenom near Thionville, Eastern France, at night.
Photographs: Vincent Kessler/Reuters

Cattenom Nuclear Power Station (France)

Capacity: 5,448 MW

Global rank: 19

The Cattenom Nuclear Power Station located in Lorraine is close to the city of Luxembourg.

...

20 biggest power plants in the world

Image: Muskrat Falls is seen at the Churchill River in central Labrador, Canada.
Photographs: Greg Locke/Reuters

Churchill Falls (Canada)

Capacity: 5,429 MW

Global rank: 20

It is a hydroelectric power station located on the Churchill River.