Mingechaur Hydroelectric Power Plant

on the Kura River, near the city of Mingechaur, Azerbaijan SSR. Construction began in 1945; it was put into operation in 1954. Rated power, 359 megawatts (six turbines); average annual power production, 1.35 billion kW-hr. The hydraulic power system satisfies requirements for power production, irrigation, water transportation, and flood control. It includes an earthen hydraulic-fill dam with a maximum height of 80 m (the world’s highest dam of its type), a length of 1,550 m, and a volume of 15.6 million cu m, surface and bottom spillways, a water intake, a hydroelectric power plant of the dam type, and a tailrace. The dam forms the Mingechaur Reservoir. Electric power is transmitted through transmission lines at voltages of 330, 220, and 110 kilovolts. The plant is a part of the integrated Transcaucasian power grid.