The Three Gorges Dam is about to lose its 'king of dams' throne to a 'new super dam' three times larger.

The Three Gorges Dam could be dethroned as the king of hydropower dams if the planned Yarlung Zangbao dam is built with three times the installed capacity.

According to the Global Times, the Chinese government will build a hydroelectric project on the Yarlung Zangbo River , one of the major rivers on the Tibetan Plateau that flows down to lower India and Bangladesh. If completed, this will be a mega-dam that can provide three times more electricity than the current Three Gorges Dam.

  Yarlung Zangbo River.

Information about this mega-project is clearly stated in the construction proposals of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the long-term goals up to 2035 released in late 2020 by the Chinese government.

According to surveys, the main stream of the Yarlung Zangbo River is the most abundant water source in the Tibet Autonomous Region of Southwest China. It has a hydropower reserve of about 80 million kilowatt hours (kWh), while the 50km section of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon has up to 70 million kWh. When completed, the Yarlung Zangbo super dam can install a power system with a total capacity of up to 60,000 MW, nearly three times the 22,400 MW of the Three Gorges super dam.

 The Yarlung Zangbo River is located on the Tibetan Plateau and flows through India and Bangladesh.

According to Chinese experts, developing hydropower on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is not just a hydropower project. It also has implications for the environment, national security, living standards, energy and international cooperation. The new hydropower plant could generate 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) in annual income for the Tibet Autonomous Region.

 The Three Gorges Dam will become the world's second largest dam if the Yarlung Zangbo mega-dam is completed.

According to experts, the 60,000 MW Yarlung Zangbo mega-dam could provide 300 billion kWh of clean, renewable, carbon-free electricity annually. The project will play a key role in realizing China's goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2060.

However, the Yarlung Zangbo mega-dam project is not as simple as the Three Gorges Dam flowing only in China. The Yarlung Zangbo River becomes the Brahmaputra River when it flows into India and Bangladesh, raising concerns that it could reduce India's water security by acting as a floating water bomb that could cause massive floods in the worst case or store water causing droughts downstream in India and Bangladesh.