Building the world's largest (and most controversial) power plant - Alex Gendler

Explore the creation of China’s Three Gorges Dam, and find out how the hydroelectric plant generates its power.

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In 2018, a single power plant produced more energy than the world’s largest coal-powered and gas-powered plants combined. China’s Three Gorges Dam relies on running water, and is capable of producing more energy than any other power plant on Earth. So what allows Three Gorges to generate all this power? And how do hydroelectric plants work in the first place? Alex Gendler investigates.

Lesson by Alex Gendler, directed by Franz Palomares.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ayala Ron, Samantha Chow, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique 'Sorín' Cassús, Lyn-z Schulte, Elaine Fitzpatrick, Karthik Cherala, Joshua Merchant, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Clarissa Bartolini-Toro, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Srikote Naewchampa, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Dan Paterniti, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Elnathan Joshua Bangayan, Jayant Sahewal, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri, Morgan Williams, Kris Siverhus, Devin Harris, Joy Love Om, Pavel Zalevskiy, Marc Bilodeau, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Chris, Tim Leistikow, Renhe Ji, Ka-Hei Law, Leora Allen, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, Boytsov Ilya, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Noa Shore, Kyle Nguyen and Michael Aquilina.

[everyday]

Two fish swam into a concrete wall, one turn his head to the other and said "DAM"

[suitedgalaxy]

“This dam rivalry” that could be misinterpreted.

[abraofrancisco]

The guy that worked on that animation deserves a Oscar, that what arts is.

[luckynumber]

This video had amazing background music

The mix of Chinese and Brazilian tunes by the end is just incredibly catchy

[andoreh]

Is crazy that the world is still amazed with hydroelectric power, here in Brazil we almost rely only on it. Itaipu dam produces full energy for a whole country (Paraguay) and for most of Brazil, and we built it in 1984!!

[joaovitormatos]

my father worked for almost 40 years in Itaipu Dam. I remember as a kid when my friends' dads (my dad's colleagues) travelled to China to work as consultants. Every year we cheered for Itaipu to keep surpassing Three Gorges. We've since moved away from Itaipu and my father's retired now, but every time we see someone mention Itaipu my father says "your grandpa worked there as a constructor. He always said there was a part of him there. Now, there's a part of me aswell"

[jaidenester]

I haven’t heard “turbine attached to a generator” since 7th grade science class and now I have PTSD.

[dhruvbhatt]

A similar controversial dam called Tehri Dam garnered massive criticism. Uttarakhand is prone to earthquakes and this dam is the tallest dam in India. Some say that if it breaks, half of the state will be flooded.

[yuzhoou]

My parents were the engineers for the Three Gorges Dam, no matter what, I am proud of what they've achieved. It is indeed an engineering miracle!

[heinaghost]

"this dam(n) rivalry is far from over"

[burggerbig]

The purpose of the dam isn't only for powering, it's also for controlling the flood. It has been doing a great job at it this summer.

[mollydaley]

Guys I think TED ED just swore
“This damn rivalry”

[wiseversa]

The animation and the voice of narrator are Damn relaxing...😌😌

[rajbagwe]

The animation guy always gets praise, this time lets appreciate the music guy too... The Brazilian and Chinese mix at the end was amazing!

[laelgebregziabher]

This animation is so satisfying to watch.

[andisagcaba]

okay cool but can we talk about how good this animation is... Ted-Ed never fails to deliver. Thank you.

[Arthorius]

The touch of Samba music to the ost whenever Itaipu is mentioned was astonishing

[Richie_P]

Easily one of the best dam videos Ted-Ed has produced yet.

[mentalizatelo]

Great productions, TED.Ed! Love all your stuff!

[hannahs]

2:36

They did this in the South to my family’s farm. My great grandpa’s childhood home is there, interesting to see