The Kastraki Dam is an earth-fill

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

Achelous River The Achelous (, ''Akhelôios''), also Acheloos, is a river in Epirus, western Greece. It is long. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancient times its spirit was venerated as ...

near the village of Kastraki in Aitoloakarnania, Greece. It was completed in 1969 for the purposes of

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 generator, flood control and irrigation. The dam's power station houses four 80 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 an installed capacity of 320 MW. In 2010 the dam's overflow chute

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 ...

was upgraded with 20 fuse plugs which increased the maximum height of the Lake Kastraki reservoir by and its storage capacity by . Terna plans the 680 MW / 5,872 MWh Amphilochia

pumped-storage hydroelectricity 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 (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...

facility, using Kastraki as the lower reservoir, and a 5 million cubic metre and a 2 million cubic metre as upper reservoirs.

References

{{Achelous River dams Dams in Greece Hydroelectric power stations in Greece Earth-filled dams Dams completed in 1969 Dams on the Achelous River Buildings and structures in Aetolia-Acarnania 1969 establishments in Greece Energy infrastructure completed in 1969 de:Kastraki-Stausee no:Kastraki-demningen

See also

References