The Three Gorges Dam complex in Hubei, China, has the world's largest generating capacity although Itaipu power plant generates the most electricity in the world in a single Dam. It includes 2 generating stations. They are the Three Gorges Dam (22,500 MW when completed) and Gezhouba Dam (3,115 MW). As of 2009^[update], the total generating capacity of this complex is 21,515 MW. The whole project is planned to be completed in 2012, when the total generating capacity will be 25,615 MW. In 2008, this complex generated 97.9 TWh of electricity (80.8 TWh from the Three Gorges Dam and 17.1 TWh from the Gezhouba Dam).

The Itaipu power plant on the Brazil-Paraguay border currently produces first most hydroelectricity power in the world in a single dam. With 20 generator units and 14,000 MW of installed capacity, in 2008 the Itaipu power plant reached a new historic record for electricity production by generating 94.68 terawatt-hours (340,800 TJ). It's important to remember that although a power plant could have a really large generating capacity (generators) it also needs to have a continuous flow of water throughout the year, like the Itaipu Dam.

The Jinsha River (the upper stream of Yangtze River) complex is the largest hydroelectric generating system currently under construction. It has 3 phases. Phase one includes 4 dams on the downstream of the Jinsha River. They are Wudongde Dam, Baihetan Dam, Xiluodu Dam, and Xiangjiaba Dam, with generating capacity of 7,400 MW, 14,000 MW, 12,600 MW, and 6,000 MW respectively. The total generating capacity of those four dams is 40,000 MW. Construction of Xiluodu Dam started on December 26, 2005. Construction of Xiangjiaba Dam started on November 26, 2006. Phase one is planned to be completed in 2015. Phase two includes 8 dams on the middle stream of the Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 21,150 MW. Phase three includes 8 dams on the upper stream of the Jinsha River. The total generating capacity is 8,980 MW. The total combined capacity of the Jinsha complex with the Three Gorges complex will be 95,745 MW.

	Name	Country	Year of completion	Total Capacity (MW)	Max annual electricity production (TW-hour)	Area flooded (km²)
1	Three Gorges Dam	People's Republic of China	2008/2011	18,300 (October 2008); 22,500 (when complete)	80.8	632
2	Itaipu	Brazil Paraguay	1984/1991/2003	14,000	94.7	1,350
3	Guri (Simón Bolívar)	Venezuela	1986	10,200	46	4,250
4	Tucuruí	Brazil	1984	8,370	41	3,014
5	Grand Coulee	United States	1942/1980	6,809	20
6	Sayano Shushenskaya (17 August 2009 stopped)	Russia	1985/1989	6,400	26.8	621
7	Krasnoyarskaya	Russia	1972	6,000	20.4	2,000
8	Robert-Bourassa	Canada	1981	5,616
9	Churchill Falls	Canada	1971	5,429	35	6,988
10	Longtan Dam	People's Republic of China	2009	4,900 (6,300 when complete)	18.7
11	Bratskaya Dam	Russia	1967	4,500	22.6
12	Ust Ilimskaya	Russia	1980	4,320	21.7
13	Yaciretá	Argentina Paraguay	1998	4,050	19.2	1,600
14	Tarbela Dam	Pakistan	1976	3,478	13
15	Ertan Dam	People's Republic of China	1999	3,300 (550×6)	17.0
16	Ilha Solteira Dam	Brazil	1974	3,200
17	Xingó	Brazil	1994/1997	3,162
18	Gezhouba Dam	People's Republic of China	1988	3,115	17.01
19	Nurek Dam	Tajikistan	1979/1988	3,000	11.2
20	La Grande-4	Canada	1986	2,779
21	W. A. C. Bennett Dam	Canada	1968	2,730	13
22	Chief Joseph Dam	United States	1958/73/79	2,620
23	Manic-5 and Manic-5-PA	Canada	1968, 1989	2,592
24	Volzhskaya (Volgogradskaya)	Russia	1961	2,572	12.3
25	Niagara Hydroelectric Power	United States	1961	2,515
26	Paulo Afonso Hydroelectric	Brazil	1955	2,462
27	Manuel M. Chicoasén Dam - Manuel M. Torres	Mexico	1980	2,430
28	La Grande-3	Canada	1984	2,418
29	Tehri Dam	India	2005	2,400	6.532
30	Atatürk Dam	Turkey	1990	2,400	8.9
31	Volga Hydroelectric Station	Russia	1957	2,300	10.5
32	Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Plant	Romania Serbia	1970	2,192	13
33	Caruachi Hydroelectric Power	Venezuela	2006	2,160	12.95
34	John Day Dam Hydroelectric Power	United States	1949	2,160
35	La Grande-2-A generating station	Canada	1992	2,106
36	Aswan Hydroelectric Dam	Egypt	1970	2,100	11
37	Bath County Pumped Storage Station	United States	1985	2,100	3.32
38	Itumbiara Hydroelectric Dam	Brazil	1980	2,082
39	Hoover Hydroelectric Dam	United States	1936/1961	2,080
40	Cahora Bassa	Mozambique	1975	2,075
41	Grande Dixence Dam	Switzerland	1965	2,069	4.51
42	The Dalles Hydroelectric Dam	United States	1981	2,038
43	Bureya (Bureyskaya) Hydroelectric Dam	Russia	2009	2,010
44	Karun-1 Dam - Shahid Abbaspour Dam	Iran	1976	2,000
45	Masjed Soleyman Hydroelectric Dam	Iran	2001	2,000
46	Karun-3 Dam	Iran	2007	2,000	4.1
47	Lijiaxia Hydroelectric Dam	People's Republic of China	2000	2,000