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China has begun construction of what will be the largest hydroelectric plant on the planet: the Motuo Dam in Tibet. With a projected output of 60,000 MW, it will almost triple the capacity of the current world leader, the Three Gorges Dam, and is set to redefine the scale of hydroelectric power.
“The project of the century”: they are building the largest dam in the world
Construction officially began on July 19, 2025, when Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang led the inaugural ceremony in the city of Nyingchi, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and described the project as the “project of the century”.
The undertaking, known as the Motuo Dam or Medog hydroelectric plant, is not a single dam, but a system of five cascading hydroelectric plants built along a steep Himalayan canyon. The total investment exceeds 1.2 trillion yuan, or about 170 billion dollars, a figure that conveys the scale of the project.
It will produce three times more energy than the current world leader
What turns Motuo into a world record is its capacity: about 60,000 MW (60 gigawatts), with an estimated annual generation of 300 billion kilowatt-hours. That output would be enough to supply electricity to more than 300 million people.
To put it in perspective, it is worth comparing it with the current champion: the Three Gorges Dam, also in China, has a capacity of 22.5 GW and generates on the order of 100 billion kWh per year. In other words, Motuo aims to produce almost three times more energy than the project that currently tops the world ranking.