The Rizzanese Reservoir () is a reservoir in the

Corse-du-Sud Corse-du-Sud (; , or ; ) is (as of 2019) an administrative department of France, consisting of the southern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged with that of Haute-Corse on 1 January ...

department of France on the island of Corsica. It stores water for irrigation, and supplies the largest hydroelectric power plant in Corsica, with installed capacity of 55 MW.

Location

The reservoir is formed by a dam, the ''Barrage du Rizzanese'', across the

Rizzanese The Rizzanese () is a coastal river in the southwest of department of Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. It is dammed near Sorbollano to form the Rizzanese Reservoir, which stores water for irrigation and supplies the largest hydroelectric power pla ...

river. It is also fed by the Ruisseau de Codi. It is south of the village of Sorbollano. The D20 road runs close to the west of the reservoir. The river defines the boundary between the communes of Sorbollano and

Levie Levie (; ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, collectivity of Corsica, France. The ruined Bronze Age fortified village Cucuruzzu is situated in the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Corse-du-Sud departm ...

, so the reservoir and dam are divided between the two communes.

Dam

The dam is owned by ''

Électricité de France Électricité de France SA (; ), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational corporation, multinational electric utility company owned by the government of France. Headquartered in Paris, with €139.7 billion in sales in 2023, EDF ope ...

'' (EDF). It is a

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...

used for hydroelectricity generation and for irrigation. It is high and long. The foundation is thick. A transfer conduit with a diameter of and slope of 7% carries sediment from the reservoir to downstream from the dam. The reservoir holds of water. It feeds a power plant downstream. A tunnel carries water from the dam to the hydroelectric power station at Sainte Lucie de Tallano in the Levo plain. The power is delivered during daily peak periods of electricity consumption. With installed capacity of 55 MW the power plant delivers almost 40% of the island's hydroelectricity. Annual output is estimated at 80GWh.

History

The dam was built to EDF's design by a consortium of Vinci Construction Terrassement, Corse Travaux (Eurovia) and Razel-Bec between 2008 and 2012. The Rizzanese is the fourth major hydroelectric development in Corsica. The others are on the rivers

Prunelli The Prunelli is a small coastal river in the department of Corse-du-Sud, Corsica, France. It flows into the Golfe d'Ajaccio on the Mediterranean Sea. Course The Prunelli is long. It crosses the communes of Ajaccio, Bastelica, Bastelicaccia, Caur ...

( Tolla dam; Tolla, Ocana and Pont de la Vanna hydroelectric plants), Golo (

Calacuccia Calacuccia () is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It contains the Lac de Calacuccia, a hydroelectric reservoir, just south of the village of Calacuccia. Geography Climate Calacuccia has a warm-summ ...

dam; Sovenzia,

Corscia Corscia () is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It contains the Corscia hydroelectric power station, which is fed by water channeled from Lac de Calacuccia and discharges into the Barrage de Corsci ...

and Castirla hydroelectric plants) and Fiumorbo ( Sampolo dam; Trevadine hydroelectric plant). Construction began in mid-2008. The tunnel to carry water from the dam to the power station was completed on 15 October 2010. On 21 May 2012 the dam was handed over to EDF to start filling the dam. Impoundment of the Rizzanese reservoir began on 23 May 2012. The first of two turbines was connected to the Corsican electricity network on 21 February 2013. Full commissioning was expected in mid-September 2013.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzanese Reservoir Reservoirs of Corsica