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

EPISODE · Aug 15, 2026 · 8 MIN

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

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore the creation of China’s Three Gorges Dam, and find out how the hydroelectric plant generates its power.--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.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/building-the-world-s-largest-and-most-controversial-power-plant-alex-gendlerDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/building-the-world-s-largest-and-most-controversial-power-plant-alex-gendler#digdeeper----------------------------------------------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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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