Qorlortorsuaq Dam is a

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 ...

dam near

Qorlortorsuaq Qorlortorsuaq is a village in the Nanortalik district, in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located at the site of the largest waterfall in the country; the waterfall also goes by the name of Qorlortorsuaq. In 2020, the town had onl ...

in the Nanortalik district of the

Kujalleq Kujalleq (Greenlandic language, Greenlandic: , ) is a municipality on the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq (formerly called Julianehåb). Creation The munic ...

municipality in southern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. It has a capacity of 7.6 MW and it generates power for the neighbouring towns of

Qaqortoq Qaqortoq (), also known as Julianehåb, is the capital city of the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town in sout ...

and

Narsaq Narsaq ( Danish: ''Nordprøven'') is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name ''Narsaq'' is Kalaallisut for "Plain", referring to the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located. History People have liv ...

History

The construction of the power plant started in December 2003 and was completed in October 2007. It was built by consortium of E. Pihl & Son AS (51%), YIT (34%), and

Landsvirkjun Landsvirkjun, () the National Power Company of Iceland, is Iceland's largest electricity generator. Landsvirkjun operates 21 power plants in Iceland concentrated on five main areas of operation. History Landsvirkjun was founded on 1 July 196 ...

(15%). Landsvirkjun operates the power plant until 2012, when operation will be transferred to the Kujalleq municipality. The design and engineering was performed by Icelandic companies Verkís and Efla.

Description

Qorlortorsuaq Dam is a concrete gravity dam with height of and crest length of . It creates a reservoir with a capacity of 108 million cubic meters. Its tunnel length is and pressure pipe is . The flow rate is . The power plant has two horizontal axis 3.8 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 ...

s manufactured by Kössler for a total installed capacity of 7.6 MW. Its annual generation is 27.5 GWh. A crew of four maintains the power plant. Together with the power plant a long high voltage (70 kV) line to

and

was erected. It crosses over the

Igaliko Fjord Igaliku is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The town was founded as Igaliko in 1783 by the trader and colonial administrator Anders Olsen and Greenlandic wife Tuperna. In 2020, Igaliku had 21 inhabitants. The ne ...

, a more than 2 km long span, between these two pylons: and .

Green Power program

The hydropower plant is part of the plan of the Greenland Home Rule government to replace fossil fuelled energy production and storage with sustainable power production.

References

{{GeoGroupTemplate Hydroelectric power stations in Greenland Dams in Greenland Dams completed in 2007 Gravity dams Energy infrastructure completed in 2007 Kujalleq 2007 establishments in Greenland