The Kayrakkum Dam (; ), 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 ...
Sughd Province
Sughd Province, also referred to as the Sogdia Region, and Leninabad before 2001, is one of the four administrative divisions and one of the three provinces that make up Tajikistan. Centered in the historical Sogdiana, it is located in the northw ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
. It is situated on the western edge of the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Encompassing three former Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, the valley is e ...
and creates Kayrakkum Reservoir. The reservoir supplies water for irrigation, primarily in
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
downstream, and
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 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 a ...
-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 () (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 located on the territory of Tajikistan an ...