Enguri Dam

A huge dam sits on a river.

It is a very tall wall made of concrete. It is the second tallest in the world. This dam helps make power for many homes.

It makes power from the moving water. This power helps people turn on lights. The dam is in a land called Georgia.

Workers built the dam a long time ago. They finished it in 1987. It is a very important place for the land.

Some parts of the power station are in a place called Abkhazia. It is a very big and useful tool.

The Enguri Dam is a massive wall in Georgia.

It sits on the Enguri River. It is a concrete arch dam. An arch dam is shaped like a curve. This dam is the second highest in the world.

This dam makes power from water. This is called hydroelectric power. It uses the river to make electricity. The dam is very important for Georgia. In 2007, it made about 46% of the country's power.

Building the dam was a big job. Work began in 1961. It was finished in 1987. At first, leaders wanted to build it on a different river. But experts said that would hurt the beach. So, they built it on the Enguri River instead.

Some parts of the power station are in Abkhazia. The dam itself is in a place called Upper Svanetia. The station has 20 turbines. A turbine is a machine that spins to make power. These turbines make a lot of electricity. In 2015, Georgia named the dam a piece of cultural heritage. This means it is a special part of their history.

The Enguri Dam is a huge structure in Georgia.

It sits on the Enguri River near the town of Jvari. This dam is a concrete arch dam. An arch dam is curved like a bow. It is currently the second highest of its kind in the world. This dam is part of a larger power station. This station helps provide electricity to many people. It is a very important part of how the country works.

This dam uses water to make electricity. This is called hydroelectric power. The power station uses many different parts to work. It has 20 turbines to make energy. A turbine is a machine that spins to create power. Each turbine has a capacity of 66 MW. This makes a total capacity of 1,320 MW. The station is a cascade of many different facilities. These include the main dam and several smaller installations.

Building the dam was a long project. Work first began in the year 1961. The dam became operational in 1978. It was fully completed in 1987. Before this, Nikita Khrushchev wanted a dam on the Bzyb River. His experts said a dam there would cause beach erosion. This means the sand on the beach would wash away. So, they chose the Enguri River instead. The impact on the coast would be much less.

Many groups have helped keep the dam working. In 1994, engineers found the dam was in a bad state. The European Commission gave €9.4 million for urgent repairs in 1999. This helped fix a part called the stoplog. Other groups like the EBRD and the European Union also gave loans. In total, €116 million in loans were granted. Later, in 2011, the European Investment Bank gave €20 million. This money helped finish the rehabilitation of the plant.

The dam and the power station are in different places. The dam is in Upper Svanetia. However, the power station is in the Gali District of Abkhazia. In 2007, the station made about 46% of Georgia's electricity. By a 1992 agreement, Abkhazia gets 40% of the power. The rest goes to Georgia. In 2015, the dam became a piece of cultural heritage. This means it is a special part of Georgia's history.

The Enguri Dam is a massive hydroelectric structure located on the Enguri River. It sits near the town of Jvari in the Tsalenjikha region of Georgia. This structure is a concrete arch dam, which means it is shaped like a curved bow to hold back water. It currently holds the title of the second highest concrete arch dam in the entire world. The dam is a vital part of the Enguri hydroelectric power station, or HES. This power station is a complex system of facilities used to generate electricity.

Generating power at this site involves a complex cascade of hydroelectric facilities. The system starts with the main arch dam itself. From there, the water moves through a diversion installation belonging to the Enguri HES. The system also includes the Perepad HES-1, which is located near the dam. There are three additional channel installations called the Perepad HES-2, HES-3, and HES-4. These are located on the tailrace, which is the channel where water exits the system. Eventually, the water empties into the Black Sea.

The power station relies on many moving parts to create energy. The Enguri HES contains 20 turbines, which are machines that spin to produce electricity. Each individual turbine has a nominal capacity of 66 MW. When all 20 turbines work together, they reach a total capacity of 1,320 MW. This massive amount of energy produces an average annual capacity of 3.8 TWh. This output is incredibly significant for the region. As of 2007, this single station provided approximately 46% of the total electricity supply for the country of Georgia.

The history of this project began with a different plan. Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev originally wanted a major dam on the Bzyb River. He liked this location because his favorite resort was near the mouth of that river at Pitsunda. However, experts warned him that a dam on the Bzyb River would cause catastrophic beach erosion. This means the waves would wash away the sand at Pitsunda. To protect the coastline, engineers decided to build the dam on the Enguri River instead. Construction on the Enguri site officially began in 1961. The dam became temporarily operational in 1978 and reached full completion in 1987.

Maintaining such a large structure is a difficult and expensive task. In 1994, engineers from Hydro-Québec inspected the dam and found it in a rare state of dilapidation. This means the structure was in a very poor condition. To fix these problems, several international groups provided funding. In 1999, the European Commission gave €9.4 million for urgent repairs. This money helped replace the stoplog on the Georgian side of the arch dam. It also helped refurbish one of the five generators located on the Abkhaz side.

Many other organizations have contributed to the dam's survival through loans. In total, €116 million in loans were granted by several groups. These included the EBRD, the European Union, the Japanese Government, KfW, and the Government of Georgia. In 2011, the European Investment Bank provided an additional €20 million loan. This money was used to complete the rehabilitation of the hydropower plant. It also helped ensure safe water evacuation toward the Black Sea at the Vardnili hydropower cascade. These efforts keep the complex working safely.

The location of the facility creates a unique political situation. While the arch dam is in Georgian-controlled territory in Upper Svanetia, the power station is in the Gali District of breakaway Abkhazia. Because of this, the electricity is shared based on a 1992 agreement. Under this deal, Abkhazia receives 40% of the power, and Georgia receives the remaining 60%. However, in the late 2010s, the amount of electricity consumed in Abkhazia increased significantly. This increase was driven in part by bitcoin mining.

There is also a strange side story involving the dam's construction history. In the early 1980s, radio relays were built to connect the Enguri Dam to the Khudoni Dam. These relays were in remote areas without electricity. To power them, workers used eight radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs. When the Khudoni dam construction stopped due to Georgian independence, these RTGs were abandoned and lost. Some were rediscovered in 1998 and 1999 without causing injury. However, two more were found in 2001, which led to the Lia radiological accident. Two RTGs remain unaccounted for to this day. In 2015, the dam was officially recognized as a piece of cultural heritage in Georgia.