The Esch-sur-Sûre Dam is an
arch dam
An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengtheni ...
on the
River Sauer just upstream of
Esch-sur-Sûre
Esch-sur-Sûre (, ; , ; , ) is a commune and small town in north-western Luxembourg, situated in the canton of Wiltz. At one point it was the second smallest commune by area in Luxembourg (after Remich), until Neunhausen and Heiderscheid were ...
in the
Wiltz canton of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. The primary purpose of the dam and its reservoir,
Upper Sûre Lake, is to provide
municipal water supply and
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
power generation. The dam is operated jointly by the Administration of Roads and Bridges and the Syndicate des Eaux du Barrage d'Esch-sur-Sûre (SEBES) while the power station is operated by Société Electrique de l'Our (SEO).
Background
It was first conceived in the 1950s to help replace nature groundwater resources for the town of Esch-sur-Sûre. Using an
André Coyne design, the dam was constructed between 1956 and 1957 and the power station was commissioned in 1963. The reservoir has been drained twice during the dam's life; once in 1969 to install a new fixed water intake and again in 1991 to install and adjustable-arm intake which mitigate issues with
algae
Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
growth in the reservoir.
Dam
The Esch-sur-Sûre is an arch dam with a height of and length of .
It is wide at its crest and wide at its base. The dam sits at the head of a
catchment area
A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
and creates the Upper Sûre Lake which has a total volume of . The lake has a surface area of and is long. It is at it deepest point and the normal elevation is .
Power station
The power station at the base of the dam contains two 5.5
MW Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency.
The pro ...
-generators for a total installed capacity of 11 MW. The power station generates an average of 16 GWh annually. Downstream of the dam there are three
weirs fitted with
Kaplan turbine
The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to a ...
s with a total installed capacity of 550 kW.
Spillway plans
The dam also provides for
flood control
Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...
but has no
spillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...
. Currently, two bottom outlets with a discharge capacity pass floods through the reservoir. Floods in the 1990s highlighted the need for a spillway at the dam. A design for a chute spillway on the left abutment of the dam have been drafted but not implemented.
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See also
* Vianden Pumped Storage Plant
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esch-sur-Sure Dam
Dams in Luxembourg
Dams completed in 1957
Energy infrastructure completed in 1963
Arch dams
Wiltz (canton)
Hydroelectric power stations in Luxembourg