The Afobaka Dam is an
embankment dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...
with a main
gravity dam
A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...
section on the
Suriname River
The Suriname River (Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it i ...
near
Afobaka
Afobaka is a village in the Brokopondo District of Suriname. Between 1960 and 1964, the 1913 meter-long Afobaka Dam was built on the Suriname River, creating the Brokopondo Reservoir. The Afobaka Airstrip is nearby.
Healthcare
Afobaka is home ...
in
Brokopondo District
Brokopondo is a district of Suriname. Its capital city is Brokopondo; other towns include Brownsweg and Kwakoegron.
The district has a population of 15,909, and an area of 7,364 square kilometres.
History
The Brokopondo district was establish ...
of
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
. The primary purpose of the dam is to generate
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
power and it supports a 180 MW power station. In 1958, Suriname Aluminum Company LLC (), a subsidiary of
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...
, gained an agreement with the Suriname government to build the dam to power an
aluminium smelter
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
This is an electrolytic ...
. Construction began in 1961 and it was completed in 1964. About 75% of power generated is used for processing aluminum, the rest is used in
Paramaribo
Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...
downstream. The power station was operational in 1965 but the very large reservoir,
Brokopondo Reservoir
The Brokopondo Reservoir, officially named Professor Doctor Ingenieur W. J. van Blommestein Meer, and also called the Brokopondostuwmeer, is a large reservoir in Suriname. It is named after the Surakarta-born Dutch hydrological engineer Willem ...
, was not completely filled until 1971.
Greenhouse gases
A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...
emitted from the reservoir resulted in poor water quality for decades. Highly
acidic
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
water also damaged the power station's turbines.
See also
*
Gran Olo hydroelectric power plant
The Gran Olo hydroelectric power plant is a mini hydro power plant under construction on the Tapanahony River in Suriname with a projected capacity of , although initially only one turbine with a capacity of will be operated. The power plant wil ...
*
Puketi hydroelectric power plant
The Puketi hydroelectric power plant was a micro hydropower plant constructed near the village of Puketi in Suriname, with a capacity of . The plant provided electricity between 1981 and 1987 before it went into disrepair. According to hydrologist ...
References
External links
{{commons category, Afobaka Dam, position=left
Dams in Suriname
Hydroelectric power stations in Suriname
Brokopondo District
Dams completed in 1964
Energy infrastructure completed in 1965
1965 establishments in Suriname
Embankment dams
Gravity dams