Do you think about where your energy comes from every time you turn on a light in your house or start the microwave? Most of us have the privilege to live in a home with electricity which makes life endlessly easier than living without power. But where does this power come from? If your home runs on electricity from the power grid, it comes from a power plant closest to you. Depending on where in the world you live, there are many options.
This helpful map from Solar Power Guide shows the 20 of the largest power plants in the world. The largest being the Three Gorges Dam in China. This hydroelectric gravity dam is 7 ,661 feet long, 377 feet wide and 594 feet tall. The way this dam generates electricity is literally with only water and gravity. When the water falls over the dam it moves turbines deep within that generate the electricity.
There are other power plants in the world that generate power strictly from the sun. The largest of these solar power farms is located in India. The Bhadla Solar Park is a massive 14,000 acres located in a desert climate that reaches temps of almost 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48C), even though the area is not habitable for humans, it does have the perfect conditions for a solar power plant.
Here in the US the biggest power plant is another dam. Located in Washington state the Grand Coulee Dam would cost almost two billion dollars to build today, but when it opened in 1942 it cost the US around $163 million.
The top ten largest power plants in the world from the map are below:
- Three Gorges Dam in China
- Itaipu Dam in Brazil/Paraguay
- Xiluodu Hydro plant in China
- Belo Monte Hydro plant in Brazil
- Guri Hydro plant in Venezuela
- Wudongde Dam in China
- Jebel Ali Gas plant in UAE
- Tucuruí Hydro plant in Brazil
- Jiuquan Wind plant in China
- Kori Nuclear plant in South Korea
