Coppe welcomes representatives of global leader in clean energy
Planeta COPPE / Energy / Energy Planning / News
Date: 04/09/2025

In August, Coppe/UFRJ welcomed representatives from the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) — a Chinese state-owned company responsible for the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, Three Gorges, and with projects spread across more than 40 countries – and of the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology.
The Three Gorges hydroelectric plant alone generates more than 80 terawatt-hours (TWh), which is equivalent to the average consumption of 70 million Brazilian homes.
The delegation was welcomed at the Energy Planning Program (PPE) by the team led by Professor Marco Aurélio Santos and researcher Jorge Damazio, with whom they discussed progress made by Brazil and China in measuring greenhouse gases (GHG), decarbonization strategies in the hydroelectric sector and prospects for joint research.
Dianchang Wang, CTG’s executive vice president, highlighted the company’s trajectory since the construction of the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Plant, which was initiated in 1993, highlighting its role in flood control, large-scale clean energy generation and waterway safety. He also emphasized the importance of supporting local communities with water supply, environmental preservation as well as job and income generation.
“The Brazilian hydroelectric sector has been pursuing strategies to reduce its climate impact, such as maintaining water quality in reservoirs, removing vegetation before filling to prevent the release of greenhouse gases and optimizing reservoir filling and emptying regulations,” explained Professor Marco Aurélio Santos, reinforcing Coppe’s leading role in applied research for more sustainable energy generation.
At the end of the visit, Marco Aurélio and Dianchang Wang discussed topics of common interest, such as methane recovery from reservoirs for energy use, and committed to a future partnership between Coppe and CTG to study greenhouse gas emissions from hydroelectric plants.
- Decarbonization
