China is the undisputed world champion of dam building. Not only do they have more working large dams than every other country in the world, but they also hold the record for the largest capacity hydroelectric power station in operation: the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Now, the East Asian superpower is in the process of creating the world’s first super dam, set to bust all previous records.
China first announced the so-called super damβs construction back in 2021 When the National Peopleβs Congress approved the countryβs 14th Five-Year Plan.
The dam will sit in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, known as the Brahmaputra River in India, among the foothills of the Himalayas in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The river carves along the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world that stretches for 504.6 kilometers (313.5 miles) in length, just slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in the US.
It aims to exploit the huge amount of potential energy that’s held within the rivers and cliffs of this epically expansive region. In total, it could harness triple the amount of hydroelectric power currently captured by the Three Gorges power stations, according to state media.
The government has justified the plan by saying it will help China achieve its goal of reaching peak carbon emissions peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Source: Iflscience
