The Mingachevir Dam (Mingachevir Hydro Power Station) 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 Kura River just north of

Mingachevir Mingachevir ( ) is the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 106,000. It is often called the "city of lights" because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kura (South Caucasus river), Kura River, which divides the city ...

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 serves several purposes, including

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 and water storage for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. The

Mingachevir reservoir The Mingachevir reservoir () (also known as the Mingachevir sea ()) is a large reservoir on the Kura river in northwestern Azerbaijan. It supplies water to the Upper Karabakh and Upper Shirvan channels, and is used for electricity generation, i ...

, behind the dam, supplies water to the Upper Qarabag and Upper Sirvan channels which help irrigate about of farmland in the country. Its six

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 were overhauled or replaced with sets in 2000. Mingachevir reservoir has a storage capacity of , covering . The length of the dam is , its width is and height is . It is the largest hydroelectric power station in the South Caucasus.

History

The construction of the station started in 1945, the first hydro aggregate was put into operation in 1953. The main turbines were originally from the Japanese-built Fengman Hydropower Station in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

(now

Northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

), captured by the Red Army during the invasion of Manchuria in 1945. In 1954, the station was put into operation with full capacity. A large number of people came from different regions of Azerbaijan due to the installation of Mingachevir hydroelectric power station. In total 20,000 people took part in the construction of the power station. Approximately 10,000

German prisoners of war German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

were involved in the installation towards the end of the 1940s. President Aliyev participated in the ceremony of commissioning of Mingachevir hydroelectric power station after reconstruction on February 27, 2018. All hydro generators and hydro turbines of the station were replaced with new ones within the framework of the reconstruction. As a result, the production capacity of the power station was increased from 284 MW to 424 MW.

Technical parameters

The capacity of the Mingachevir HPP is 359 MW which has 6 hydroaggregates. Average annual electric power production is 1.4 billion kWh. Water intersection includes concrete dam consisting of 3 holes (width of 30 m with an open channel), water intake facility to pressured water pipes consisting of 6 holes (length of 66 m), dam of land (Length 1550 m, height 80 m), device with 1 hole that intakes water to Upper Garabagh and Upper Shirvan canal.

References

External links

Dams completed in 1953 Mingachevir Earth-filled dams Dams in Azerbaijan Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union 1954 establishments in the Soviet Union 1954 establishments in Azerbaijan {{Hydroelectric-power-plant-stub

History

Technical parameters

See also

References

External links