Baihetan Dam plant in the world, after the Three Gorges Dam. When finished, it will be the third largest dam in China and the fourth in the world, in terms of dam volume. Construction on the dam began in 2008 and is expected to be complete in 2021. Baihetan Dam The Baihetan Dam () is a large hydroelectric dam under construction on the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, in the southwest of China. The dam is a 277 m tall double-curvature arch dam with a crest elevation of 827 m. Its width will be
Three Gorges Dam government estimated that the Three Gorges Dam project would cost 180 billion yuan (US$22.5 billion). By the end of 2008, spending had reached 148.365 billion yuan, among which 64.613 billion yuan was spent on construction, 68.557 billion yuan on relocating affected residents, and 15.195 billion yuan on financing. It was estimated in 2009 that the construction cost would be recovered when the dam had generated of electricity, yielding 250 billion yuan. Full cost recovery was thus expected to occur ten years after the dam started full operation, but the full cost of the Three Gorges Dam was recovered by December