| Cahora Bassa Dam | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Location | Tete, Mozambique |
| Coordinates | |
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Height | 171 m (561 ft) |
| Impounds | Zambezi River |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Cahora Bassa Lake |
| Capacity | 55.8 km3 (13 cu mi) |
| Catchment area | 56,927 km2 (21,980 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 2,739 km2 (1,058 sq mi) |
| Max. water depth | 157 m (515 ft) |
| Power station | |
| Type | No |
| Turbines | 5 × 415 MW |
| Installed capacity | 2,075 MW |
The Cahora Bassa Dam system is the largest hydroelectric scheme in southern Africa with the powerhouse containing five 415 MW turbines. It is one of the three major dams on the Zambezi river system, the others being Kariba and Itezhi-Tezhi. However, Itezhi-Tezhi is not on the main stream of the Zambezi, but on its tributary the Kafue River. The dam began to fill in December 1974 after construction was commenced in 1969 by the Portuguese colonial government of Mozambique (Portugal), and is 171 m (560 ft) high by 303 m (994 ft) wide at the crest. Built in the first half of the 1970s when Mozambique was still a Portuguese territory, long stretches of the power transmission lines were sabotaged during 16 years of Mozambican Civil War which ended in 1992. The lake has reached a maximum length and width of approximately 250 km and 38 km respectively, flooding an area of 2,700 km² with an average depth of 20.9 m.[1]
The system includes two converter stations, one at Songo in Mozambique and the other at Apollo in South Africa. There are two parallel lines between these two stations, covering 1,400 km, of which 900 km is in Mozambican territory. These HVDC lines work at 533 kV and in Mozambique territory only have about 4,200 towers.