Maximum water depth 157 m (515 ft) Height 171 m Catchment area 56,927 km² Construction began 1969 | Opening date 1974 Opened December 1974 Surface area 2,739 km² Create Cahora Bassa | |
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Total capacity 55.8 km (45,200,000 acre·ft) Similar Kariba Dam, Lake Kariba, Island of Mozambique, Itezhi‑Tezhi Dam, Gorongosa National Park | ||
Cahora bassa dam
The Cahora Bassa Dam is a dam in Mozambique. It is one of the three major dams on the Zambezi river system, the others being the Kariba and the Itezhi-Tezhi, the latter on the Kafue River, a tributary of the Zambezi.
Contents
- Cahora bassa dam
- Map of Cahora Bassa Dam Mozambique
- Boat tour at cahora bassa dam tete mozambique
- History
- Power stations
- References
Map of Cahora Bassa Dam, Mozambique
Boat tour at cahora bassa dam tete mozambique
History
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 metres (561 ft) high by 303 metres (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 kilometres (160 mi) and 38 kilometres (24 mi) respectively, flooding an area of 2,700 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi) with an average depth of 20.9 metres (69 ft).
Power stations
The Cahora Bassa system is the largest hydroelectric scheme in southern Africa with the powerhouse containing five 415 megawatts (557,000 hp) turbines. Most of the power generated is exported to South Africa, which is done by the Cahora Bassa HVDC system, a set of High voltage direct current lines. The system includes two converter stations, one at Songo in Mozambique and the other at Apollo in South Africa. There are two parallel power 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.