The Aras 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 ...

on the

Aras River The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...

along the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It is located downstream of Poldasht in

West Azerbaijan Province West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia. It is in the northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey ( Ağrı, Hakkâri, Iğdır and Van Provinces), Iraq ( Erbil and Sula ...

, Iran and

Nakhchivan City Nakhchivan ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a true exclave of Azerbaijan, located west of Baku. The municipality of Nakhchivan consists of the city of Nakhchivan, the settlement of Əliab ...

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (, ) is a landlocked country, landlocked Enclave and exclave, exclave of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republi ...

, Azerbaijan. The primary purpose of the dam is

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 and water supply.

History

On 11 August 1957, a protocol was signed between the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Iran in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

to construct the Aras Dam on the Aras River. This was done at a time when Azerbaijan was under Soviet control. Construction on the dam began in 1963 and was completed in 1970. The dam was officially inaugurated on 28 June 1971 by Iranian deputy prime minister Safi Asfia and the

Deputy Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Soviet Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

Mikhail Yefremov. A supplementary protocol to the border agreement of 1954 between Iran and the Soviet Union was signed on 7 May 1970 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to re-delimit the border along the Aras Reservoir.

Specifications

Dam

The Aras Dam is tall from its foundation and tall from the riverbed. It is an embankment type dam with sand fill and a clay core. It is long and wide on its crest.

Reservoir

The Aras Reservoir (), also known as Aras Water Junction (), is a large

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

created by the Aras Dam and shared by Nakhchivan exclave of

Azerbaijan Republic Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

. At a normal water elevation of above sea level, the dam withholds a

of with a surface area of . Of the reservoir's normal capacity, is active or "useful" while is inactive or dead storage. The maximum storage of the reservoir is . The reservoir is long and wide. The average depth at normal water levels is . There are a total of four hydroelectric stations in Azerbaijan and Iran (two on each side) with four turbines. The discharge capacity of one spillway of a station is . Since its opening, the reservoir has provided irrigation water for of

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

in Azerbaijan and Iran, including about in Dasht-e Moghan area.

Power station

The dam's

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

contains four turbine-generators for a capacity of each. Two of the generators are on the Iranian side and the other two on the Azerbaijani side, along with the dam's

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 ...

. The discharge capacity of one spillway of a station is . The total installed capacity is 44 MW.

References

External links

{{stack, {{Portal, Azerbaijan, Iran, Water, Renewable energy Dams completed in 1970 Dams in Azerbaijan Dams in West Azerbaijan Province Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Iran–Soviet Union relations Earth-filled dams Hydroelectric power stations in Iran Hydroelectric power stations in Azerbaijan Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union