The is a large
pumped-storage
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potenti ...
hydroelectric power plant in
Shimogō,
Minamiaizu
is a town located in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,158 in 6,575 households, and a population density of 17 persons per km². The total area of the town was .
Geography
Minamiaizu is located in the ...
,
Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
,
Japan. With an installed capacity of , the system is one of the largest pumped-storage power stations in Japan.
The facility is run by
Electric Power Development Company
The , operating under the brand name J-POWER, formerly , is an electric utility in Japan. It mainly produces electricity from coal and hydroelectric power stations. It also has a few wind farms and is currently building a nuclear plant in Ohma ...
(J-Power).
Like most pumped-storage facilities, the power station uses two reservoirs, releasing and pumping as the demand rises and falls. The Ouchi Dam Reservoir, formed by the
Ouchi Dam
Ouchi Dam is a dam in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It supports a 1000 MW hydroelectric power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility f ...
, is the upper artificial reservoir, while
Okawa Dam
is a dam in Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of ...
forms the lower reservoir.
Ogawa Dam is a
rockfill-concrete
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...
combined dam, with a height of 75 m and a length of 406 m. Construction on the dam started in 1971 and was completed in 1987.
The dam is also used for flood control, irrigation, and domestic and industrial water supply.
Ouchi Dam is a rockfill dam with a height of 102 m and a length of 340 m. Construction started in 1974 and was completed in 1991.
The power plant employs four 250 MW pump/generator units, for a total net capacity of 1000 MW. The maximum water flow is 314 cubic meters per second.
Unit 1 and 2 became operational in April 1988 after the completion of the Okawa Dam.
Units 3 and 4 were commissioned in 1991.
The station includes a visitor center with a model of the power station and media to explain its operation.
A smaller conventional hydroelectric power plant, the is in operation downstream of Ogawa Dam since May 1986. The plant, operated by
Tohoku Electric Power Company
is an electric utility, servicing 7.6 million individual and corporate customers in six prefectures in Tōhoku region plus Niigata Prefecture. It provides electricity at 100 V, 50 Hz, though some area use 60 Hz.
Tohoku Electric Power ...
, has an installed capacity of 21 MW and an effective head of 56 m. The maximum water flow is 45 cubic meter per second.
The plant operates with a single
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 ...
.
See also
*
List of power stations in Japan
This page is a list of power stations in Japan that are publicly or privately owned.
List
Former power station
* Senju Thermal Power Station
See also
*Electricity sector in Japan
*Energy in Japan
*List of largest power station ...
*
Hydroelectricity in Japan Hydroelectricity is the second most important renewable energy source after solar energy in Japan with an installed capacity of 50.0 gigawatt (GW) as of 2019. According to the International Hydropower Association Japan was the world's sixth largest ...
*
List of pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations
The following page lists all pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations that are larger than in installed generating capacity, which are currently operational or under construction. Those power stations that are smaller than , and those that ar ...
Notes
{{Dams in Fukushima Prefecture
Dams in Fukushima Prefecture
Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in Japan
Energy infrastructure completed in 1988
1988 establishments in Japan