Gove Dam

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Gove Dam
Angola relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Gove Dam in Angola
Country Angola
Location Huambo, Huambo Province
Coordinates 13°27′4.23″S15°52′6.01″E / 13.4511750°S 15.8683361°E / -13.4511750; 15.8683361 Coordinates: 13°27′4.23″S15°52′6.01″E / 13.4511750°S 15.8683361°E / -13.4511750; 15.8683361
Purpose Power, flood control
Status Operational
Construction began 1969
Opening date 1975;43 years ago (1975)
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Embankment, earth and rock-fill
Impounds Kunene River
Height 58 m (190 ft)
Length 1,112 m (3,648 ft)
Dam volume 4×10^6 m3 (140×10^6 cu ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity 2,547×10^6 m3 (2,065,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area 4,667 km2 (1,802 sq mi) [1]
Commission date 2012
Type Conventional
Turbines 3 x 20 MW (27,000 hp) Francis-type
Installed capacity 60 MW (80,000 hp)

The Gove Dam is an embankment dam on the Kunene River about 75 km (47 mi) south of Huambo in Huambo Province, Angola. The purpose of the dam is to control floods and generate hydroelectric power. It has a power generating capacity of 60 megawatts (80,000 hp) each) (three turbines of 20 megawatts (27,000 hp) each), enough to power over 30,000 homes.

Embankment dam large artificial dam

An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay, or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense, impervious core. This makes such a dam impervious to surface or seepage erosion. Such a dam is composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles binds the particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance.

Huambo Municipality and town in Angola

Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa, is the capital of the province of Huambo in Angola. The city is located about 220 km E from Benguela and 600 km SE from Luanda. The city is the second largest in Angola, after the capital city, Luanda. Huambo is a main hub on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB), which runs from the port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's southernmost province, Katanga. Huambo is served by the Albano Machado Airport.

Huambo Province Province in Angola

Huambo is a province of Angola. With an area of 34,270 km2, it is one of the geographically smaller provinces, situated in the Central Region approximately 450 km south east of the capital, Luanda.

Contents

History

The Gove Dam cost US$279 million and was built by Brazilian construction group Odebrecht. It was formally inaugurated in August 2012 by the Angolan President. The dam produces power for the cities of Caála, Huambo, and Kuito.

Odebrecht S.A. is a Brazilian conglomerate consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company was founded in 1944 in Salvador, Bahia by Norberto Odebrecht, and is now present in South America, Central America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its leading company is Norberto Odebrecht Construtora.

Caála Municipality and town in Huambo, Angola

Caála is a town located 23 km west of the city of Huambo, in the namesake province in Angola. It was known as Vila Robert Williams while Angola was a Portuguese colony, after the famous railroad developer and mining magnate, Sir Robert Williams. The town's last known population count was 259,483.

Kuito Municipality and town in Bié Province, Angola

Kuito is a city located in central Angola. It is the administrative capital of Bié Province. Under Portuguese rule until 1975, it was called Silva Porto. Kuito was under siege in 1993/94 and again in 1998/99 by the rebel forces from UNITA. Many buildings in Kuito are still heavily damaged as a result of these sieges.

Construction of the dam began in 1969 and it was completed in 1975. Construction of the power station was halted twice, from 1975 to 1983 due to the civil war, then again from 1986 to 2001 also due to fighting. The dam was partially destroyed by dynamite in 1990. Along with the power station, sub-stations at Caála, Dango, and Benfica (in Huambo) were inaugurated at the time of completion. The sub-stations and distribution network cost US$80 million. [2]

Angolan Civil War Armed conflict in Angola between 1975 and 2002

The Angolan Civil War was a civil conflict in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was a power struggle between two former liberation movements, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The war was used as a surrogate battleground for the Cold War by rival states such as the Soviet Union, Cuba, South Africa and the United States.

See also

The Ruacana Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant near Ruacana in northwest Namibia, close to the Angolan border. Water for the power station is stored in a dam just above the Ruacana Falls along the Cunene River in Angola. Several dams upstream help regulate the Cunene River to help the power station operate more efficiently. The Calueque Dam in Calueque, Angola is under construction. Further up is the Gove Dam in west-central Angola and the Olushandja Dam, on the tributary, Etaka River, is in Namibia. The power station is located underground near the bottom of the falls and has an installed capacity of 330 megawatts (440,000 hp).

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References

  1. "Hydropower Developments" (PDF). COBA. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  2. "Gove Hydroelectric dam inaugurated in Angola". Macaupub. Retrieved 25 April 2014.