The Tuyamuyun Hydro Complex (THC) is a system of four interconnected

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

s and a series of canals on the lower

Amu Darya River The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

, bordering

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 co ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

. Its primary purpose is to provide water for irrigation in Xorazm,

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

and

Daşoguz Daşoguz (also Dashoguz, Dasoguz; roughly "stone spring" in Turkmen), formerly known as Tashauz (until 1992; russian: Ташау́з) and Dashkhovuz (1992–1999; russian: Дашхову́з), is a city in northern Turkmenistan and the capital o ...

regions of

and as far north as

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. The complex is located about southeast of

Urgench Urgench ( uz, Urganch//, ; russian: Ургенч, Urgench; fa, گرگانج, ''Gorgånch/Gorgānč/Gorgânc/Gurganj'') is a district-level city in western Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Xorazm Region. The estimated population of Urgench in ...

Xorazm Region Xorazm Region (, خارەزم ۋىلايەتى, ) or Khorezm Region as it is still more commonly known, is a viloyat (region) of Uzbekistan located in the northwest of the country in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River. It borders with Tu ...

, Uzbekistan and about north of Gazojak in

Lebap Region Lebap Region ( tk, Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian ''Lab-e āb'') is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya. Its capital is ...

, Turkmenistan. It was constructed between 1969 and 1983. Aside from irrigation, the complex also provides water for industrial and

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

uses. A 150 MW power station on the main dam contains six 25 MW

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 an ...

turbine-generators. The main dam (THC Main Dam) is located on the Amu Darya, straddling the border of

and

. It is the center-piece of the complex. The main dam is a long and long

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 ...

. It creates the Channel Reservoir which has a storage capacity of about and length of . Water from the Channel Reservoir can be fed into the adjacent Kaparas and Sultansanjar Reservoirs for later use. The Sultansanjar Reservoir is connected via a canal to the Koshbulak Reservoir which lies just east. When first completed, all four reservoirs had a capacity of about but due to silt build-up, this had been reduced to about by 2001. A system of canals off the main dam supply a network of irrigation canals to the various regions for irrigation.

References

{{stack, {{Portal, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Water, Renewable energy Dams in Uzbekistan Dams in Turkmenistan Gravity dams Hydroelectric power stations in Uzbekistan Hydroelectric power stations in Turkmenistan Dams completed in 1983 Energy infrastructure completed in 1983 1983 establishments in Uzbekistan 1983 establishments in Turkmenistan Xorazm Region Lebap Region Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Dams in the Aral Sea basin