Cahora Bassa Dam

Cahora Bassa Dam
Cahora Bassa Dam, 2007
Cahora Bassa Dam is located in Mozambique
Cahora Bassa Dam
Location of Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique
LocationTete, Mozambique
Coordinates15°35′09″S 32°42′17″E / 15.58583°S 32.70472°E / -15.58583; 32.70472
Construction began1969
Opening date1979
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsZambezi River
Height171 m (561 ft)
Reservoir
CreatesCahora Bassa Lake
Total capacity55.8 km3 (45,200,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area56,927 km2 (21,980 sq mi)
Surface area2,739 km2 (1,058 sq mi)
Maximum water depth157 m (515 ft)
Power Station
Turbines5 × 415 MW (557,000 hp) Francis-type
Installed capacity2,075 MW (2,783,000 hp)

The Cahora Bassa Dam is located in Mozambique. It is one of two major dams on the Zambezi river, the other being the Kariba. The project began to come online in 1979 after much political debate.[1] This dam uses the Zambezi River water to generate electricity by turning turbines. That energy is then sent to South Africa.[2] The Cahora Bassa Dam forms Cahora Bassa Lake. The dam is jointly owned by Mozambique and Portugal. From independence until 2007, eighteen percent share of the dam and lake was owned by Mozambique and eighty-two percent by Portugal.[3] Portugal sold down its share to 15 percent in 2007.[4] The Cahora Bassa Dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in southern Africa and the most efficient power generating station in Mozambique.

  1. ^ "Cahora Bassa | World Lake Database - ILEC". wldb.ilec.or.jp. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  2. ^ Isaacman, Allen; Isaacman, Barbara (2013). Dams, Displacement, and the Delusion of Development: Cahora Bassa and Its Legacies in Mozambique, 1965–2007. Athens: Ohio University Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 9780821420331. JSTOR j.ctt3fgwvd.
  3. ^ "Cahora Bassa, 1969-1995". Mozambique History Net. 2010.
  4. ^ Vera Cruz, Germano (November 26, 2007). "Mozambique assumes control of Cahora Bassa". Iol.co.za. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08.