Dams and Hydropower Projects by Dr. Gaurav Garg
Most important dams in the world
● Hoover Dam - (USA) – Colorado River, Lake Mead
● Tarbela Dam (Pakistan) – Indus River
● Mangla Dam (Pakistan) – Jhelum River, PoK
● Contra Dam - Switzerland
● Almendra Dam (Spain) – Tormes River
● Itaipu Dam (Brazil) – Parana River
● Monticello Dam - California, USA
● Atatürk Dam (Turkey) – Euphrates River [ it is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish
Republic ]
● Kariba Dam (Zimbabwe) – Zambezi River
Classification of Hydro Projects based on Installed Capacity
● Micro: upto 100 KW
● Mini: 101KW to 2 MW
● Small: 2 MW to 25 MW
● Mega:
✓ Hydro projects with installed capacity >= 500 MW
✓ Thermal Projects with installed capacity >=1500 MW
Highest Dam in India - Tehri Dam (Uttarakhand).
Height: 260 meters, River: Bhagirathi.
Longest Dam in India - Hirakud Dam (Odisha).
Total Length: 25.79 km
Length of Main Dam:4.8 km
River: Mahanadi
Oldest Dam in India - Kallanai Dam (Tamil Nadu).
River: Kaveri
Also known as Grand Anicut Dam
Built by Chola Empire kings in 2 nd century AD.
Largest Hydropower station in the world
● The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. It is located in the middle of the three gorges on
the Yangtze River (longest in Asia and third longest in the world) in the Hubei Province of China.
● Installed capacity of around 22500 MW.
There are two types of Hydro Power Projects - Run of River and Impoundment .
Earlier concept - Large amount of water is stored in reservoirs and this water is dropped over turbine and turbine spins with
the force of water, mechanical energy is converted to electricity.
Run of River Hydro power plants
● They do not have large reservoirs to store water. Because they can't store water they usually generate much less power
than hydroelectric dams.
● In run of river systems, running water is diverted from a flowing river and guided down a channel, or penstock, which
leads to a generating house. There the force of the moving water spins a turbine and drives a generator. The water is
fed back into the main river further downstream.
● The difference between run-of-river and large hydropower is that run of river systems do not dam the river to create a
water reservoir. Most run of river facilities do use a small dam, or weir, to ensure enough water enters the penstock and
have a small reservoir called pondage to store small amounts of water for same-day use. However they cannot store
large amounts of water for future use.
● The absence of a major reservoir has two main implications. The first is that if or when the river’s water levels are
depleted because of drought or water extraction, the ‘fuel’ for the run of river system is reduced or becomes entirely
unavailable. Without a dam for storing water, there is no stored power.
● They can’t be relied on in an emergency or when peak-load increases.
● However, they cause less environmental harm.
● Kishanganga Project on Kishanganga river in Jammu and Kashmir is a run of river Hydro power plant.
● Gobind Sagar Lake is a Reservoir situated in Una and Bilaspur districts of Himachal Pradesh. It is formed by the
Bhakra Dam.
● Baglihar Dam also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project , is a run-of-the-river power project on the
Chenab River in the Ramban district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Etalin Hydroelectric Project
● 3,097 MW Etalin Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh.
● The Project is based on the river Dibang, Dibang is a tributary of the Brahmaputra river.
● It envisages construction of two dams over the tributaries of Dibang: Dir and Tangon.
Polavaram Hydroelectric Project
● Located on the Godavari River in the West Godavari District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh.
● Capacity: 960 MW
The Subansiri Lower Dam
● Under construction gravity dam on the Subansiri River in NorthEastern India.
● It is located 2.3 km (1.4 mi) upstream of Gerukamukh village in Dhemaji District and Lower Subansiri District on the
border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Described as a run-of-the-river project by NHPC Limited, the Project is
expected to supply 2,000 MW of power when completed.
✓ NHPC Limited (erstwhile National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is an Indian Hydropower generation company.
✓ Thermal Power Projects in India are made by BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) or NTPC (National Thermal
Power Corporation).
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project
● The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram,
Bhupalpally, Telangana, India.
● Currently the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project.
● Lift Irrigation Project - Lift irrigation is a method of irrigation in which water is not transported by natural flow, (as in
gravity-fed canal) but is lifted with pumps or surge pools etc.
● Multi-purpose Projects - Dams are used for Electricity production, Dams control floods, Dams are also used for
Irrigation purpose, Dams are also good for ecology conservation.
Ukai Dam
● The Ukai Dam, constructed across the Tapi River, is the second largest reservoir in Gujarat after the Sardar Sarovar.
● It is also known as Vallabh Sagar.
● Location - Surat district, Gujarat.
● Installed capacity - 300 MW
Damodar Basin
● First multipurpose project in India was started by Damodar
Valley Corporation.
● Hooghly river ( marked with red ) is a distributary of Ganga.
● Damodar river ( marked with green ) is a tributary of Hooghly.
● Barakar river ( marked with blue ) is a tributary of Damodar.
● The Maithon Dam is located at Maithon, 48 km from
Dhanbad, in the state of Jharkhand. The dam is constructed on
the Barakar River.
● Tilaiya Dam - It was constructed across the Barakar River, at
Tilaiya in Koderma district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
● Panchet Dam - It was constructed across the Damodar River
at Panchet in Dhanbad district in the Indian state of
Jharkhand, and opened in 1959. Installed capacity is 80 MW.
● Konar Dam - Konar river.
Massanjore Dam
● Massanjore Dam is a hydropower generating dam over the Mayurakshi River located at Massanjore near Dumka in the
state of Jharkhand, India. It is also called ‘Canada Dam’ because Canada helped India in building this dam.
Nagarjunasagar Hydro Electric Power plant
● Dam: Nagarjuna Sagar Dam across the Krishna River.
● Location: Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda district, Telangana
● Capacity: The hydroelectric plant has a power generation capacity of 815.6 MW with 8 units (1x110 MW+7x100.8
MW).
Mettur Dam
● The Mettur Dam is one of the largest dams in India and the largest in Tamil Nadu, located across the river Cauvery.
Krishna Raja Sagara Dam
● It is located in Karnataka. It lies just below the confluence of river Kaveri with its tributaries Hemavati and Lakshmana
Tirtha, in the district of Mandya.
● One of the architects of the dam was Chief Engineer of Mysore M. Visvesvaraya. His birthday, 15 September, is
celebrated as Engineers' Day in India.
The Bhavanisagar Dam
● Bhavanisagar Dam or Lower Bhavani Dam, is located in Erode district, Tamil Nadu, constructed on the Bhavani River,
located very near to Sathyamangalam, tiger reserve.
Almatti Dam
● River - Krishna
● Location - Bijapur district, Karnataka
● The Lal Bahadur Shastri Dam is also known as Almatti Dam is a hydroelectric project on the Krishna River in North
Karnataka.
● The Almatti Dam is the main reservoir of the Upper Krishna Irrigation Project; the 290 MW power station is located
on the right side of the Almatti Dam.
Dams are also responsible for Floods
● Dams in India are very strong, the problem is Operational Efficiency of Dams.
● Operational Efficiency means that decision of how much water should be released.
● Floods arise in India due to bad Operational Efficiency.
Srisailam Hydro Electric Power plant
● Dam : The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River.
● Locations: Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.
● The dam was constructed in a deep gorge in the Nallamala Hills in between Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts,
● It is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in the country.
● Installed Capacity: 1,670 MW
Renukaji dam multipurpose project
● It includes 3 projects.
● Lakhwar project on the Yamuna in Uttarakhand.
● Kisau on the Tons in Uttarakhand and Himachal.
● Renukaji on the Giri in Himachal.
Dams on Chambal River
● The Gandhi Sagar dam is the first of the four dams built on
the Chambal River, located on the Rajasthan-Madhya
Pradesh border. (Mandsaur-Neemuch districts, Madhya
Pradesh).
● The Rana Pratap Sagar dam is a dam located 52 km
downstream of Gandhi Sagar dam across the Chambal River
near Rawatbhata in Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan.
● The Jawahar Sagar Dam is the third dam in the series of
Chambal Valley Projects, located 29 km upstream of Kota
city and 26 km downstream of Rana Pratap Sagar dam.
● Kota Barrage is the fourth dam.
Bisalpur Dam is a gravity dam on the Banas River near Deoli in Tonk district, Rajasthan, India.
Jaswant Sagar Dam on Luni River in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Kangsabati Dam – On Kangsabati river, Bankura, West Bengal.
Cheruthoni Dam on Cheruthoni river, Kerala.
Banasur Sagar – On the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River, Kerala.
Mulla-Periyar Dam – Periyar River, Kerala.
Dul Hasti Hydroelectric Plant
● Located on: Chandra River, a tributary of Chenab River in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir.
● Capacity: 390 MW
Kiru hydro-electric project
● It is a run-of-river scheme located in Kishtwar district of J&K State and is about 40 kms from Kishtwar. The Kiru H E
Project of 624 MW installed capacity is proposed on river Chenab
The Shahpurkandi Dam project is located on the Ravi River in Pathankot district, Punjab, India, downstream from the existing Ranjit Sagar Dam.
The Multipurpose Jamrani Dam Project is proposed to be Constructed in District Nainital of Uttaranchal State on Gola River.
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