The Shweli I Dam 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 ...

on the

Shweli River Shweli River (; zh, 瑞丽江) is a river in China and Myanmar (Burma). Also known as the Nam Mao (; ) in Shan or Dai, and Ruili River or Longchuan River (龙川江) in Chinese, it forms 26 km of the boundary between Burma and China. It is on ...

about southwest of Namhkam in

Shan State Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. The primary purpose of the dam is

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 generation and it supports a power station. Water from the dam's reservoir is diverted through a long headrace tunnel to the power station downstream. The drop in elevation 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 ...

of . Construction on the dam began in 2002 and the river was diverted on 10 December 2006. On 5 September 2008, the first generator was commissioned and the last of the six was commissioned in April 2009. The dam and the power station were constructed under the

build–operate–transfer Build–operate–transfer (BOT) or build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession (contract), concession from the public ...

method and cost US$756.2 million. It is owned and operated by the Shweli River-I Power Station Co. The Shweli II and Shweli III Dams are planned downstream.

Gallery

Shweli 1 power station.jpg, Power house Shweli I spillway.jpg, Spillway Shweli I tailrace.jpg, Tailrace gate Shweli I dam.jpg, Dam Shweli I turbines2.jpg, Turbines Shweli I control room.jpg, Central Control room

References

{{reflist Dams completed in 2008 Dams in Myanmar Gravity dams Buildings and structures in Shan State

Gallery

See also

References