Energy
Visualizing the World’s Largest Hydroelectric Dams
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Visualizing the World’s Largest Hydroelectric Dams
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Did you know that hydroelectricity is the world’s biggest source of renewable energy? According to recent figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), it represents 40% of total capacity, ahead of solar (28%) and wind (27%).
This type of energy is generated by hydroelectric power stations, which are essentially large dams that use the water flow to spin a turbine. They can also serve secondary functions such as flow monitoring and flood control.
To help you learn more about hydropower, we’ve visualized the five largest hydroelectric dams in the world, ranked by their maximum output.
Overview of the Data
The following table lists key information about the five dams shown in this graphic, as of 2021. Installed capacity is the maximum amount of power that a plant can generate under full load.
| Country | Dam | River | Installed Capacity (gigawatts) | Dimensions (meters) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | Three Gorges Dam | Yangtze River | 22.5 | 181 x 2,335 |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil / 🇵🇾 Paraguay | Itaipu Dam | Parana River | 14.0 | 196 x 7,919 |
| 🇨🇳 China | Xiluodu Dam | Jinsha River | 13.9 | 286 x 700 |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | Belo Monte Dam | Xingu River | 11.2 | 90 X 3,545 |
| 🇻🇪 Venezuela | Guri Dam | Caroni River | 10.2 | 162 x 7,426 |
At the top of the list is China’s Three Gorges Dam, which opened in 2003. It has an installed capacity of 22.5 gigawatts (GW), which is close to double the second-place Itaipu Dam.
In terms of annual output, the Itaipu Dam actually produces about the same amount of electricity. This is because the Parana River has a low seasonal variance, meaning the flow rate changes very little throughout the year. On the other hand, the Yangtze River has a significant drop in flow for several months of the year.
For a point of comparison, here is the installed capacity of the world’s three largest solar power plants, also as of 2021:
- Bhadla Solar Park, India: 2.2 GW
- Hainan Solar Park, China: 2.2 GW
- Pavagada Solar Park, India: 2.1 GW
Compared to our largest dams, solar plants have a much lower installed capacity. However, in terms of cost (cents per kilowatt-hour), the two are actually quite even.
Closer Look: Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is an engineering marvel, costing over $32 billion to construct. To wrap your head around its massive scale, consider the following facts:
- The Three Gorges Reservoir (which feeds the dam) contains 39 trillion kg of water (42 billion tons)
- In terms of area, the reservoir spans 400 square miles (1,045 square km)
- The mass of this reservoir is large enough to slow the Earth’s rotation by 0.06 microseconds
Of course, any man-made structure this large is bound to have a profound impact on the environment. In a 2010 study, it was found that the dam has triggered over 3,000 earthquakes and landslides since 2003.
The Consequences of Hydroelectric Dams
While hydropower can be cost-effective, there are some legitimate concerns about its long-term sustainability.
For starters, hydroelectric dams require large upstream reservoirs to ensure a consistent supply of water. Flooding new areas of land can disrupt wildlife, degrade water quality, and even cause natural disasters like earthquakes.
Dams can also disrupt the natural flow of rivers. Other studies have found that millions of people living downstream from large dams suffer from food insecurity and flooding.
Whereas the benefits have generally been delivered to urban centers or industrial-scale agricultural developments, river-dependent populations located downstream of dams have experienced a difficult upheaval of their livelihoods.
– Richter, B.D. et al. (2010)
Perhaps the greatest risk to hydropower is climate change itself. For example, due to the rising frequency of droughts, hydroelectric dams in places like California are becoming significantly less economical.
Countries
Charted: The World’s Biggest Oil Producers
Just three countries—the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia—make up the lion’s share of global oil supply. Here are the biggest oil producers in 2022.
Charted: The World’s Biggest Oil Producers in 2022
In 2022 oil prices peaked at more than $100 per barrel, hitting an eight-year high, after a full year of turmoil in the energy markets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Oil companies doubled their profits and the economies of the biggest oil producers in the world got a major boost.
But which countries are responsible for most of the world’s oil supply? Using data from the Statistical Review of World Energy by the Energy Institute, we’ve visualized and ranked the world’s biggest oil producers.
Ranked: Oil Production By Country, in 2022
The U.S. has been the world’s biggest oil producer since 2018 and continued its dominance in 2022 by producing close to 18 million barrels per day (B/D). This accounted for nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Almost three-fourths of the country’s oil production is centered around five states: Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Alaska, and Colorado.
We rank the other major oil producers in the world below.
| Rank | Country | 2022 Production (Thousand B/D) | YoY Change | Share of World Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 17,770 | +6.5% | 18.9% |
| 2 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 12,136 | +10.8% | 12.9% |
| 3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 11,202 | +1.8% | 11.9% |
| 4 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 5,576 | +3.0% | 5.9% |
| 5 | 🇮🇶 Iraq | 4,520 | +10.2% | 4.8% |
| 6 | 🇨🇳 China | 4,111 | +2.9% | 4.4% |
| 7 | 🇦🇪 UAE | 4,020 | +10.4% | 4.3% |
| 8 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 3,822 | +4.6% | 4.1% |
| 9 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 3,107 | +3.9% | 3.3% |
| 10 | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 3,028 | +12.0% | 3.2% |
| 11 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 1,944 | +0.9% | 2.1% |
| 12 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 1,901 | -6.3% | 2.0% |
| 13 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 1,769 | -2.0% | 1.9% |
| 14 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | 1,768 | +1.8% | 1.9% |
| 15 | 🇩🇿 Algeria | 1,474 | +8.9% | 1.6% |
| 16 | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | 1,450 | -11.2% | 1.5% |
| 17 | 🇦🇴 Angola | 1,190 | +1.1% | 1.3% |
| 18 | 🇱🇾 Libya | 1,088 | -14.3% | 1.2% |
| 19 | 🇴🇲 Oman | 1,064 | +9.6% | 1.1% |
| 20 | 🇬🇧 UK | 778 | -11.0% | 0.8% |
| 21 | 🇨🇴 Colombia | 754 | +2.4% | 0.8% |
| 22 | 🇮🇳 India | 737 | -3.8% | 0.8% |
| 23 | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | 731 | +8.1% | 0.8% |
| 24 | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 706 | +12.4% | 0.8% |
| 25 | 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | 685 | -5.6% | 0.7% |
| 26 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 644 | -6.9% | 0.7% |
| 27 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 613 | +0.8% | 0.7% |
| 28 | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 567 | -1.7% | 0.6% |
| 29 | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | 481 | +1.7% | 0.5% |
| 30 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 420 | -5.2% | 0.4% |
| 31 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 331 | -17.5% | 0.4% |
| 32 | 🇨🇩 Congo | 269 | -1.7% | 0.3% |
| 33 | 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | 244 | +1.0% | 0.3% |
| 34 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 194 | -1.2% | 0.2% |
| 35 | 🇬🇦 Gabon | 191 | +5.4% | 0.2% |
| 36 | 🇸🇸 South Sudan | 141 | -7.6% | 0.2% |
| 37 | 🇵🇪 Peru | 128 | +0.5% | 0.1% |
| 38 | 🇹🇩 Chad | 124 | +6.2% | 0.1% |
| 39 | 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | 119 | -9.2% | 0.1% |
| 40 | 🇸🇾 Syria | 93 | -2.7% | 0.1% |
| 41 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 92 | -7.9% | 0.1% |
| 42 | 🇧🇳 Brunei | 92 | -13.8% | 0.1% |
| 43 | 🇾🇪 Yemen | 81 | -2.4% | 0.1% |
| 44 | 🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago | 74 | -3.6% | 0.1% |
| 45 | 🇷🇴 Romania | 65 | -6.2% | 0.1% |
| 46 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 65 | -1.6% | 0.1% |
| 47 | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 63 | -0.9% | 0.1% |
| 48 | 🇸🇩 Sudan | 62 | -3.3% | 0.1% |
| 49 | 🇹🇳 Tunisia | 40 | -12.9% | 0.0% |
| 50 | Other CIS | 43 | +4.4% | 0.0% |
| 51 | Other Middle East | 210 | +1.2% | 0.2% |
| 52 | Other Africa | 283 | -3.4% | 0.3% |
| 53 | Other Europe | 230 | -20.5% | 0.2% |
| 54 | Other Asia Pacific | 177 | -10.6% | 0.2% |
| 55 | Other S. & Cent. America | 381 | +68.5% | 0.4% |
| Total World | 93,848 | +4.2% | 100.0% |
Behind America’s considerable lead in oil production, Saudi Arabia (ranked 2nd) produced 12 million B/D, accounting for about 13% of global supply.
Russia came in third with 11 million B/D in 2022. Together, these top three oil producing behemoths, along with Canada (4th) and Iraq (5th), make up more than half of the entire world’s oil supply.
Meanwhile, the top 10 oil producers, including those ranked 6th to 10th—China, UAE, Iran, Brazil, and Kuwait—are responsible for more than 70% of the world’s oil production.
Notably, all top 10 oil giants increased their production between 2021–2022, and as a result, global output rose 4.2% year-on-year.
Major Oil Producing Regions in 2022
The Middle East accounts for one-third of global oil production and North America makes up almost another one-third of production. The Commonwealth of Independent States—an organization of post-Soviet Union countries—is another major regional producer of oil, with a 15% share of world production.
| Region | 2022 Production (Thousand B/D) | YoY Change | Share of World Supply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle East | 30,743 | +9.2% | 32.8% |
| North America | 25,290 | +5.3% | 27.0% |
| CIS | 14,006 | +0.9% | 14.9% |
| Africa | 7,043 | -3.5% | 7.5% |
| Asia Pacific | 7,273 | -1.4% | 7.8% |
| South & Central America | 6,361 | 7.2% | 6.8% |
| Europe | 3,131 | -8.6% | 3.3% |
What’s starkly apparent in the data however is Europe’s declining share of oil production, now at 3% of the world’s supply. In the last 20 years the EU’s oil output has dropped by more than 50% due to a variety of factors, including stricter environmental regulations and a shift to natural gas.
Another lens to look at regional production is through OPEC members, which control about 35% of the world’s oil output and about 70% of the world’s oil reserves.
When taking into account the group of 10 oil exporting countries OPEC has relationships with, known as OPEC+, the share of oil production increases to more than half of the world’s supply.
Oil’s Big Balancing Act
Since it’s the very lifeblood of the modern economy, the countries that control significant amounts of oil production also reap immense political and economic benefits. Entire regions have been catapulted into prosperity and wars have been fought over the control of the resource.
At the same time, the ongoing effort to pivot to renewable energy is pushing many major oil exporters to diversify their economies. A notable example is Saudi Arabia, whose sovereign wealth fund has invested in companies like Uber and WeWork.
However, the world still needs oil, as it supplies nearly one-third of global energy demand.
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