World's largest — by installed capacity
Top 20 hydropower dams by installed capacity — MW
Ranked by nameplate installed capacity in megawatts. Capacity factor (typically 40–60%) means actual annual generation is proportionally less than capacity implies. Source: IHA World Hydropower Outlook 2024 · GEM Global Hydropower Tracker (CC BY 4.0).
| # | Dam name | GPS coordinates | MW capacity | River | Country | Status | Annual GWh (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Three Gorges (Sanxia) | 30.8229°N 110.9836°E | Yangtze | China | Operational | ~88,000–103,000 | |
| 2 | Itaipu | 25.4095°S 54.5939°W | Paraná | Brazil/Paraguay | Operational | ~75,000–103,000 | |
| 3 | Baihetan | 27.22°N 102.89°E | Jinsha (Yangtze upper) | China | Operational | ~62,000 | |
| 4 | Xiluodu | 28.26°N 103.63°E | Jinsha River | China | Operational | ~57,100 | |
| 5 | Belo Monte | 3.11°S 51.78°W | Xingu River | Brazil | Operational | ~39,500 | |
| 6 | Wudongde | 26.82°N 102.67°E | Jinsha River | China | Operational | ~38,900 | |
| 7 | Grand Ethiopian Renaissance (GERD) | 11.21°N 35.09°E | Blue Nile (Abbay) | Ethiopia | Filling/partial | ~15,700 (eventual) | |
| 8 | Grand Coulee | 47.96°N 118.98°W | Columbia River | USA | Operational | ~21,000 | |
| 9 | Krasnoyarsk | 55.98°N 92.42°E | Yenisei River | Russia | Operational | ~18,200 | |
| 10 | Sayano-Shushenskaya | 52.82°N 91.38°E | Yenisei River | Russia | Operational (rebuilt after accident) | ~26,800 | |
| 11 | Robert-Bourassa (La Grande-2) | 53.69°N 77.65°W | La Grande River | Canada (Québec) | Operational | ~35,600 | |
| 12 | Churchill Falls | 53.56°N 63.99°W | Churchill River | Canada (Labrador) | Operational | ~35,000 | |
| 13 | Longtan | 25.82°N 107.04°E | Hongshui (Pearl) River | China | Operational | ~18,700 | |
| 14 | Tucuruí | 3.83°S 49.62°W | Tocantins River | Brazil | Operational | ~21,000 | |
| 15 | Bratsk | 56.28°N 101.80°E | Angara River | Russia | Operational | ~22,600 | |
| 16 | Tarbela | 33.99°N 72.68°E | Indus River | Pakistan | Operational | ~17,400 | |
| 17 | Xiangjiaba | 28.64°N 104.44°E | Jinsha River | China | Operational | ~30,700 | |
| 18 | Gezhouba | 30.72°N 111.20°E | Yangtze (below Three Gorges) | China | Operational | ~15,700 | |
| 19 | Cahora Bassa | 15.60°S 32.70°E | Zambezi River | Mozambique | Operational | ~13,900 | |
| 20 | Hoover Dam | 36.02°N 114.74°W | Colorado River | USA (Nevada/Arizona) | Operational | ~4,200 |
India · Complete hydropower dam list
India's major hydropower dams — all GPS-located
India has approximately 47 GW of installed hydropower capacity from 197 large hydropower stations (Central Electricity Authority, 2024). Key dams documented with GPS coordinates, capacity, and state. Source: NHPC India · CEA India
| Dam name | GPS coordinates | MW | River | State | Operator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koyna Dam | 17.39°N 73.76°E | 1,960 | Koyna River | Maharashtra | KPCL | Maharashtra's largest. Pumped storage expansion underway. Reservoir: Shivajisagar Lake. |
| Nathpa Jhakri | 31.55°N 77.38°E | 1,500 | Sutlej River | Himachal Pradesh | SJVN | India's largest underground powerhouse. 27.4 km headrace tunnel through Himalayas. |
| Bhakra Nangal | 31.41°N 76.45°E | 1,325 | Sutlej River | Himachal Pradesh/Punjab border | BBMB | Nehru's "Temple of Modern India". Gobind Sagar reservoir. 226m high gravity dam. Commissioned 1963. |
| Sardar Sarovar | 21.83°N 73.74°E | 1,450 | Narmada River | Gujarat/Maharashtra/MP border | SSC (Gujarat) | India's largest dam by volume. 163m height. Delayed 30 years by Narmada Bachao Andolan protests. 130m tall Statue of Unity nearby (21.84°N 73.72°E). |
| Tehri Dam | 30.38°N 78.48°E | 1,000 + 1,000 PSP | Bhagirathi River (Ganga tributary) | Uttarakhand | THDC India | India's tallest dam at 260.5m. Old Tehri town submerged. Pumped storage (PSP) unit adds 1,000 MW flexible capacity. Seismically active zone — controversial. |
| Dehar Power House | 31.87°N 77.21°E | 990 | Beas River | Himachal Pradesh | BBMB | Part of Beas-Sutlej Link project. Underground powerhouse. |
| Pong Dam (Maharana Pratap Sagar) | 31.96°N 76.06°E | 396 | Beas River | Himachal Pradesh | BBMB | Reservoir also a Ramsar wetland — migratory bird habitat. Earth-filled dam 133m high. |
| Srisailam | 16.07°N 78.89°E | 1,670 | Krishna River | Andhra Pradesh/Telangana | APGENCO/TSGENCO | Second largest reservoir in India by capacity. Shared between AP and Telangana post-bifurcation. Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve. |
| Nagarjuna Sagar | 16.57°N 79.32°E | 816 | Krishna River | Telangana/Andhra Pradesh | APGENCO/TSGENCO | World's largest masonry dam by volume. 124m height. Inaugurated 1967. Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam left canal irrigates 850,000 acres. |
| Indira Sagar | 22.26°N 76.81°E | 1,000 | Narmada River | Madhya Pradesh | NHDC (NHPC+MP Govt) | India's largest reservoir by storage capacity (12.22 km³). Punarwas nagar resettlement project for 52,000 displaced families. |
| Hirakud Dam | 21.53°N 83.88°E | 347 | Mahanadi River | Odisha | OHPC | World's longest earthen dam — 25.8 km. Inaugurated by Nehru 1957. Hirakud reservoir critical for Odisha flood control. Orissa Hydro Power Corp. |
| Subansiri Lower | 27.73°N 94.37°E | 2,000 | Subansiri River | Arunachal Pradesh/Assam | NHPC | Under construction — India's largest hydropower project under construction. Delayed 10+ years by downstream protests (Assam farmers, seismic concerns). Expected commissioning 2025-26. |
| Dibang Multipurpose Project | 28.50°N 95.89°E | 2,880 | Dibang River | Arunachal Pradesh | NHPC | Approved — India's largest planned hydropower project. 288m high RCC dam. Environmental clearance granted 2023 after 10-year review. Biodiversity concerns in Dibang Valley. |
| Sharavathi (Linganamakki) | 14.10°N 74.97°E | 1,035 | Sharavathi River | Karnataka | KPCL | Jog Falls (14.22°N 74.80°E) is downstream — among India's highest waterfalls (253m). Flow to Jog Falls significantly reduced by Linganamakki reservoir diversion. |
| Uri-I and Uri-II | 34.08°N 74.05°E | 480 + 240 = 720 | Jhelum River | Jammu & Kashmir | NHPC | Run-of-river projects. Strategically important — River originates in India and flows into Pakistan. Subject to Indus Waters Treaty (1960) provisions. India can fully use Jhelum tributaries. |
Africa, Americas, Europe, Russia — key dams
Major dams outside Asia — GPS-located
| Dam | GPS | MW | River | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Inga (planned) | 5.52°S 13.57°E | 44,000 (ultimate) | Congo River | DRC | World's most ambitious dam project — would exploit Congo River's extraordinary 41,000 m³/s average flow and 96m natural head at Inga Falls. Grand Inga 3 (11,000 MW) is planned first phase. If fully built, would be the world's largest power station by far — nearly double Three Gorges. Financing repeatedly collapsed. Would power much of sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Aswan High Dam | 23.97°N 32.88°E | 2,100 | Nile River | Egypt | Built 1960–1970 with Soviet assistance. Lake Nasser reservoir (23.97°N 32.88°E) stretches 500 km. Displaced approximately 100,000 Nubian people. Abu Simbel temples (22.34°N 31.62°E) were relocated in an UNESCO engineering feat. Ended Nile floods but reduced downstream fertility. Annual generation: approximately 10,000 GWh. |
| Kariba Dam | 16.52°S 28.85°E | 1,470 | Zambezi River | Zambia/Zimbabwe | Built 1955–1959. Lake Kariba is the world's largest artificial lake by volume (180 km³). Supplies both Zambia (50%) and Zimbabwe (50%). Under severe climate stress — lake levels hit record lows in 2023-24 due to drought, forcing load shedding across both countries. Expansion planned by Zambezi River Authority. |
| Hoover Dam | 36.02°N 114.74°W | 2,080 | Colorado River | USA (Nevada/Arizona) | Iconic arch-gravity dam, 221m high. Built 1931–1936 (during the Great Depression, 21,000 workers). Lake Mead reservoir (36.17°N 114.47°W) — USA's largest reservoir by volume. Climate change has caused Lake Mead to drop to record lows (~30% capacity in 2022), threatening both water supply and power generation. Symbol of 20th century engineering ambition. |
| Grand Coulee | 47.96°N 118.98°W | 6,809 | Columbia River | USA (Washington) | USA's largest hydropower plant. Built 1933–1942. Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake reservoir (48.00°N 118.50°W). One of the largest concrete structures ever built. Blocked salmon migration above the dam entirely — fisheries controversy. Powers Pacific Northwest including aluminium smelters and (historically) Hanford nuclear site. Woody Guthrie wrote "Roll On, Columbia" about the dam. |
| Itaipu | 25.4095°S 54.5939°W | 14,000 | Paraná River | Brazil/Paraguay | See Itaipu Dam dedicated page for full documentation. |
| Robert-Bourassa (James Bay) | 53.69°N 77.65°W | 5,616 | La Grande River | Canada (Québec) | Part of the James Bay hydroelectric complex — one of the largest power systems in North America. Hydro-Québec operates 63 generating stations totalling 37 GW. Cree Nation indigenous land flooded without consent under the original project — landmark 1975 James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement was one of the first modern land claim settlements in Canada. |
| Sayano-Shushenskaya | 52.82°N 91.38°E | 6,400 | Yenisei River | Russia (Siberia) | Russia's largest hydropower plant. Site of the world's worst hydropower accident: , a water hammer destroyed turbines 2 and 7, caused flooding, and killed 75 workers. Plant shut down for rebuilding — 2009–2014. Fully restored to 6,400 MW by 2014. Caused a power crisis in Siberia affecting aluminium smelters (RusAl) and cities. |
| Bratsk Dam | 56.28°N 101.80°E | 4,516 | Angara River | Russia (Siberia) | Built 1954–1967. Bratsk Reservoir (56.28°N 101.80°E) — one of the world's largest. The dam enabled Soviet industrialisation of Siberia — enormous aluminium smelters (RUSAL Bratsk), chemical plants, and cities were built around its cheap electricity. The model of "dam + aluminium smelter" was replicated globally. |
GPS: 11.21°N 35.09°E · Ethiopia / Nile politics
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) — Africa's largest dam and the Nile water dispute
Technical specifications:
Location: Blue Nile (Abbay) River, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia, approximately 30 km from the Sudan border. GPS: 11.21°N 35.09°E. Height: 155 metres. Capacity: approximately 74 billion m³ reservoir. Installed capacity (target): 6,450 MW from 16 × Francis turbines. Annual generation: approximately 15,700 GWh (eventual full operation). Operator: Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP). Cost: approximately $5 billion USD, financed domestically (Government bonds, civil servant salary deductions). Construction began ; first power ; first full turbines ; filling ongoing .
Location: Blue Nile (Abbay) River, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia, approximately 30 km from the Sudan border. GPS: 11.21°N 35.09°E. Height: 155 metres. Capacity: approximately 74 billion m³ reservoir. Installed capacity (target): 6,450 MW from 16 × Francis turbines. Annual generation: approximately 15,700 GWh (eventual full operation). Operator: Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP). Cost: approximately $5 billion USD, financed domestically (Government bonds, civil servant salary deductions). Construction began ; first power ; first full turbines ; filling ongoing .
The Nile water dispute:
Egypt and Sudan derive virtually all their fresh water from the Nile. Egypt uses approximately 55.5 billion m³/year under the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement (with Sudan). Ethiopia signed this agreement as it was negotiated between Egypt, Sudan, and the UK — Ethiopia argues it is not bound by it. GERD's reservoir (74 billion m³) required several years of filling, reducing Nile flows to Egypt during filling periods. Egypt threatened military action multiple times. Sudan's position has shifted — it benefits from GERD's flood regulation and potential irrigation. The African Union-mediated talks have not produced a binding agreement on filling rate or drought protocols as of . The dispute is one of the most acute transboundary water conflicts in the world. Source: African Union GERD negotiations · US State Department reports.
Egypt and Sudan derive virtually all their fresh water from the Nile. Egypt uses approximately 55.5 billion m³/year under the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement (with Sudan). Ethiopia signed this agreement as it was negotiated between Egypt, Sudan, and the UK — Ethiopia argues it is not bound by it. GERD's reservoir (74 billion m³) required several years of filling, reducing Nile flows to Egypt during filling periods. Egypt threatened military action multiple times. Sudan's position has shifted — it benefits from GERD's flood regulation and potential irrigation. The African Union-mediated talks have not produced a binding agreement on filling rate or drought protocols as of . The dispute is one of the most acute transboundary water conflicts in the world. Source: African Union GERD negotiations · US State Department reports.
Questions
Questions about world dams
Why does China have so many of the world's largest dams?
China has the world's greatest hydropower resource by far — the Yangtze, Jinsha, Yellow, and Mekong rivers descend from the Tibetan Plateau with enormous head (altitude difference) and flow, creating exceptional hydropower potential. China's total technical hydropower potential is approximately 694 GW — larger than the entire installed generation capacity of India. China also has the unique combination of national-scale planning authority, state-owned construction enterprises with massive capacity (Sinohydro, the world's largest hydro construction company), and a national strategy that prioritised hydropower from the 1950s onwards. By 2023, China's installed hydropower capacity reached approximately 420 GW — the world's largest by a wide margin. The rapid development of the Jinsha River cascade (Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba) added approximately 46 GW in just 10 years (2012–2022) — a pace of hydropower construction that no country has matched. Source: IHA World Hydropower Outlook 2024 · National Energy Administration China.
How does pumped storage (like Tehri PSP) differ from a conventional hydropower dam?
A conventional hydropower dam generates electricity when water flows downhill through turbines — it is one-directional. Water flows in one direction: from reservoir through turbines to the river below. A pumped storage hydropower (PSP) plant is two-directional and acts as a giant rechargeable battery. During off-peak hours (when electricity is cheap and plentiful — at night, or when solar or wind is abundant), PSP uses electricity to pump water from a lower reservoir up to an upper reservoir. During peak demand hours, the water flows back down through the turbines to generate electricity — earning higher-value peak electricity revenue. Tehri Phase-II PSP (30.38°N 78.48°E) adds 1,000 MW of PSP to the 1,000 MW conventional station. PSP has an efficiency of approximately 70–80% round-trip (you get back 70–80% of the electricity you put in). It is currently the world's dominant form of large-scale energy storage — approximately 160 GW globally, dwarfing battery storage (approximately 50 GWh). India's National Electricity Plan (2023) targets 18.8 GW of new PSP by 2031-32. Source: CEA India NEP 2023 · IHA Pumped Storage Report.
Why is the Grand Inga Dam in the DRC never built despite its enormous potential?
Grand Inga at the Congo River (5.52°S 13.57°E) has unique natural advantages — the Congo River has the world's second-largest flow rate after the Amazon (approximately 41,000 m³/second average) and a natural 96-metre head at the Inga Falls, meaning no dam is needed — just tunnels and powerhouses cut into the rock. The theoretical ultimate capacity is approximately 44,000 MW. The two operational Inga dams (Inga I 351 MW, 1972; Inga II 1,424 MW, 1982) are chronically underperforming due to decades of neglect, maintenance failures, and the DRC's political instability. Grand Inga 3 (11,000 MW) has been contracted, cancelled, and re-contracted multiple times. The fundamental barriers are: (1) the DRC's political instability and corruption make long-term project financing essentially impossible without major political risk guarantees; (2) the power market for such enormous output requires pan-African transmission grids that don't exist yet; (3) previous Inga projects displaced indigenous Bateke communities without adequate compensation. The World Bank withdrew financing in 2016 citing governance concerns. As of 2024, no bank has committed financing. Source: World Bank Inga documentation · African Development Bank.
Is India building enough dams for its future energy needs?
India has approximately 47 GW of installed hydro and a long-run technical potential of approximately 148 GW (Central Electricity Authority estimate) in Himalayas and peninsular rivers. The gap between 47 GW installed and 148 GW potential is large — but exploiting it faces several compounding challenges. Most undeveloped potential is in Himalayan states (Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, J&K) where seismic activity, fragile ecosystems, and indigenous land rights create significant barriers. The 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods killed thousands and damaged multiple under-construction hydropower projects — fundamentally changing India's risk calculus for Himalayan dams. Environmental impact assessments are increasingly contested. India is instead focusing on pumped storage (18.8 GW target by 2031-32, CEA NEP 2023) which adds flexibility without additional large dams. The Subansiri Lower (2,000 MW) project has been under construction since 2005 — now in its 20th year — illustrating the challenges. Source: CEA India NEP 2023 · NHPC India · Ministry of Power India.
Provenance
Attribution, confidence, and citation
- Sources
- IHA World Hydropower Outlook 2024 · GEM Global Hydropower Tracker (CC BY 4.0) · WRI GPPD (CC BY 4.0) · CEA India NEP 2023 · NHPC India Annual Reports · US Bureau of Reclamation
- Confidence
- High — capacity data from IHA and national utility reports; GPS from GEM CC BY 4.0 and WRI GPPD CC BY 4.0
- Cite as
- "World Dams", The Energy Codex, https://thecodex.expert/energy/dams/, last updated .