Three Gorges Dam in the context of "Hydroelectricity"

The Yangtze River, Yangzi River (English: /ˈjæŋtsi/ or /ˈjɑːŋtsi/) or Chang Jiang (simplified Chinese: 长江; traditional Chinese: 長江; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng; lit. 'long river') is the longest river in China and the third-longest river in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows, 6,374 km (3,961 mi) including the Dam Qu River, the longest source of the Yangtze, in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the fifth-largest primary river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population.

The Yangtze has played a major role in the history, culture, and economy of China. For thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking, and war. The Yangtze Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP, and the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced it was building a multi-tier transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports to create a new economic belt alongside the river.

Hydropower (from Ancient Greek ὑδρο-, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power. Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy production. Hydropower is now used principally for hydroelectric power generation, and is also applied as one half of an energy storage system known as pumped-storage hydroelectricity.

Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a river or elevated lake. International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a low-carbon means for economic development.

Source water protection is a planning process conducted by local water utilities, as well as regional or national government agencies, to protect drinking water sources from overuse and contamination. The process includes identification of water sources, assessment of known and potential threats of contamination, notification of the public, and steps to eliminate the contamination. The process is applicable to lakes, rivers and groundwater (aquifers).

This article provides a list of the largest hydroelectric power stations by generating capacity. Only plants with capacity larger than 3,000 MW are listed.

The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, China, has the world's largest instantaneous generating capacity at 22,500 MW of power. In second place is the Baihetan Dam, also in China, with a capacity of 16,000 MW. The Itaipu Dam in Paraguay and Brazil is the third largest with 14,000 MW of power. Despite the large difference in installed capacity between Three Gorges Dam and Itaipu Dam, they generate nearly equal amounts of electrical energy during the course of an entire year – Itaipu 103 terawatt-hours (370 PJ) in 2016 and Three Gorges 111.8 TWh (402 PJ) in 2020, because the Three Gorges experiences six months per year when there is very little water available to generate power, while the Paraná River continuously feeds the Itaipu with an ample supply of water year-round.

Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major political, cultural, and economic hub for the region.

Hubei is associated with the historical state of E that existed during the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1045 – 771 BCE). Its name means 'north of the lake', referring to Dongting Lake. It borders Henan to the north, Anhui and Jiangxi to the east, Hunan to the south, and Chongqing and Shaanxi to the west. The high-profile Three Gorges Dam is located at Yichang in the west of the province.

A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position in which the water level can be varied. (In a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson) that rises and falls.

Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Over time, more and larger locks have been used in canals to allow a more direct route to be taken.