The Kayrakkum Dam (russian: Кайраккумская ГЭС; tg, НБО Қайроққум), also spelt variously as Kayrakum, Kairakum, Qayraqqum or Qayroqqum, 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 ...
on the
Syr Darya River
The Syr Darya (, ),, , ; rus, Сырдарья́, Syrdarjja, p=sɨrdɐˈrʲja; fa, سيردريا, Sirdaryâ; tg, Сирдарё, Sirdaryo; tr, Seyhun, Siri Derya; ar, سيحون, Seyḥūn; uz, Sirdaryo, script-Latn/. historically known ...
near the town of Kayrakkum in
Sughd Province
Sughd Province ( tg, Вилояти Суғд, Viloyati Sughd, Sogdia Region , fa, ولایت سغد) is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces ( tg, вилоятҳо, viloyatho , fa, ولایت) that make up ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
. It is situated on the western edge of the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
and creates
Kayrakkum Reservoir
Kayrakkum Reservoir ( Tajik: Обанбори Қайроққум; Russian: Кайраккумское водохранилище), also spelled variously as Qayroqqum, Qayraqqum, Kayrakum or Kairakum, is a large artificial lake in Ghafurov Distric ...
. The reservoir supplies water for irrigation, primarily in
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
downstream, and
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 production. The reservoir is also a
Ramsar site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Barki Tojik. Construction on the dam began in 1952. It began to impound its reservoir in 1956 and the first two generators were commissioned that year. The other four were operational in 1957 and the project was complete in 1959. The power station is currently undergoing a rehabilitation which should be completed in 2020. Two new and larger turbines will increase the installed capacity to 142 MW.
The tall and long embankment dam is filled with sand, gravel and rock. Its
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 ...
and power station are co-located on the left side of the dam in a gravity dam section. The spillway contains six maintenance gates and six operational gates with a total discharge capacity of . The power station houses six 21 MW
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 ach ...
-generators. Kayrakkum Reservoir has a total storage capacity of and surface of . Of the total reservoir capacity, can be used for irrigation downstream and/or power generation. is dead or unusable storage.
See also
*
Farkhad Dam
The Farkhad Dam (russian: Фархадская ГЭС) (also known as Dam-16) is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam on the Spitamen District, Spitamen in Sughd Province, Tajikistan. It is a part of the Naryn-Syr Darya Cascade. The dam is locate ...