What are the largest power plants in the world?

The largest power plant by capacity is Three Gorges Dam in China at about 22.5 GW (Hydro), followed by Xiluodu (China, ~13.9 GW) and Baihetan Dam (China, ~13.1 GW). Capacity (GW) measures maximum output; it is different from CO₂ emissions, where coal baseload dominates.

Top emitters (CO₂e per year, modelled)

Source: Climate TRACE v6 + WRI GPPD (CC BY 4.0). Modelled estimates.

Largest plants by capacity (GW)

Source: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Explore the full data: all capacity & emissions rankings →

Cite or embed this data

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Click a box to select, then Ctrl/Cmd-C. Download the full dataset (CSV) · Zenodo snapshot v2, released 2026-07.

Harvard

Inzonex PowerAtlas (2026) What are the largest power plants in the world?. Available at: https://inzonex.co.uk/poweratlas/answers/largest-power-plants-in-the-world/ (Accessed: 12 June 2026).

APA 7

Inzonex PowerAtlas. (2026). What are the largest power plants in the world? [Data set]. https://inzonex.co.uk/poweratlas/answers/largest-power-plants-in-the-world/

BibTeX

@misc{inzonex_poweratlas_2026,
  author = {Inzonex PowerAtlas},
  title = {What are the largest power plants in the world?},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://inzonex.co.uk/poweratlas/answers/largest-power-plants-in-the-world/}},
  note = {Open power-plant emissions data, CC BY 4.0. Accessed 2026-06-12}
}

Embed this card (HTML)

<div style="font-family:system-ui,Arial,sans-serif;max-width:430px;border:1px solid #e2e5ea;border-radius:10px;padding:14px 16px;background:#fff"><div style="font-size:11px;color:#f57c00;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.05em">Inzonex PowerAtlas</div><div style="font-size:15px;font-weight:600;margin:4px 0 6px;color:#1a1a1a">What are the largest power plants in the world?</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#5b616e;line-height:1.5">Open data on global power-plant CO₂ emissions (Climate TRACE + WRI Global Power Plant Database, CC BY 4.0).</div><a href="https://inzonex.co.uk/poweratlas/answers/largest-power-plants-in-the-world/" style="display:inline-block;margin-top:9px;font-size:13px;color:#f57c00;font-weight:600;text-decoration:none">See the full ranking → Inzonex PowerAtlas</a></div>

Frequently asked questions

What is the biggest power plant in the world?

Three Gorges Dam (China) at ~22.5 GW of capacity.

Is the largest plant also the highest-emitting?

Not necessarily — capacity (GW) measures size, while CO₂ depends on fuel and run-hours. Big hydro plants are large but emit little; coal baseload dominates emissions.