The Monasavu Dam is a rock-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 Nanuku River about northwest of

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Naitasiri Province Naitasiri is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji and one of eight located on Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is located in Central Division. Geography and infrastructure Naitasiri covers an area of , and occupies the area mostly to the north ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. It is located just above the Monasavu Falls and is both the tallest and largest dam, which also withholds the largest reservoir in the country. The primary purpose of the dam is to produce

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 and it supports an power station. To offset fossil fuel imports for power production on the island, the Monasavu-Wailoa Hydroelectric Project was authorized by the Fiji Electricity Authority in 1977 and construction began in May 1978. The dam was complete and power station commissioned in 1983. About US$15 million of the project's total US$234 million cost was supplied by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, the rest by the host government and loans. The dam, protection of its catchment and rainforest contribute to its national significance as outlined in Fiji's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

Wailoa Hydro Power Station

Water from the dam is diverted through nearly of tunnels to the Wailoa Hydro Power Station to the east on the Wailoa River. The power station contains four

Pelton turbine The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the t ...

-generators and the drop in elevation between the reservoir and power station affords a

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a measurement related to liquid pressure (normalized by specific weight) and the liquid elevation above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22, eq.3.2a. It is usually meas ...

(water drop) of about . In 1992, the power station was supplying 92% of

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ; ) is the largest island in Fiji. It is the site of the country's capital and largest city, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a plate tectonics, tectonically complex area betwe ...

's, the main Fiji island, power. This share dropped to 49% in 2006 due to growing power demand.

Climate

References

{{GeoGroupTemplate Hydroelectric power stations in Fiji Dams completed in 1983 Dams in Oceania Water in Fiji Rock-filled dams Naitasiri Province Preliminary Register of Sites of National Significance in Fiji

Wailoa Hydro Power Station

Climate

See also

References