The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost surplus off-peak electric power is typically used to run the pumps. During periods of high electrical demand, the stored water is released through turbines to produce electric power. Although the losses of the pumping process make the plant a net consumer of energy overall, the system increases revenue by selling more electricity during periods of peak demand, when electricity prices are highest. If the upper lake collects significant rainfall or is fed by a river then the plant may be a net energy producer in the manner of a traditional hydroelectric plant.
An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods.
The Nurek Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan. Its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation and its power station has an installed capacity of 3,015 MW. Construction of the dam began in 1961 and the power station's first generator was commissioned in 1972. The last generator was commissioned in 1979 and the entire project was completed in 1980 when Tajikistan was still a republic within the Soviet Union, becoming the tallest dam in the world at the time. At 300 m (984 ft), it is currently the second tallest man-made dam in the world, after being surpassed by Jinping-I Dam in 2013. The Rogun Dam, also along the Vakhsh in Tajikistan, may exceed it in size when completed.
Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Cwm Dyli is the location of a hydro-electric power station on the southern flank of the Snowdon range in North Wales. At the time it was built, it was the largest hydro-electric power station in the United Kingdom. It is Britain's oldest power station, and is believed to be one of the oldest Grid-connected hydro-electric stations in the world.
The Mingachevir Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Kura River just north of Mingachevir in Azerbaijan. It serves several purposes to include hydroelectric power production and water storage for irrigation. The Mingachevir reservoir, behind the dam, supplies water to the Upper Qarabag and Upper Sirvan Channels which help irrigate about 1,000,000 ha of farmland in the country. Its six Francis turbine-generators were overhauled or replaced with 70 megawatts (94,000 hp) sets in 2000. Mingachevir reservoir has a storage capacity of 15.730 cubic kilometres (12,753,000 acre⋅ft), covering 605 km2 (234 sq mi). The length of the dam is 1,550 metres (5,090 ft), its width is 16 metres (52 ft) and height is 80 m (260 ft). It is the largest hydroelectric power station in the South Caucasus, is located over Kur river and not far from Mingachevir city.
The Kambar-Ata-2 Hydro Power Plant is a hydroelectric power station on the river Naryn near Kara-Jygach, Toktogul District, Kyrgyzstan. When completed, it will have 3 individual Francis turbine-generators with a nominal output of around 120 MW each which will deliver up to 360 MW of power. The first generator was operational on November 27, 2010. The power plant's dam is 60 m (197 ft) tall and it creates a 70,000,000 m3 (56,750 acre⋅ft) reservoir of which 8,000,000 m3 (6,486 acre⋅ft) is active for power generation.
The Darbandikhan Dam is a multi-purpose embankment dam on the Diyala River in northern Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. It was constructed between 1956 and 1961. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power production and recreation. Due to poor construction and neglect, the dam and its 249 MW power station have undergone several repairs over the years. A rehabilitation of the power station began in 2007 and was completed in 2013.
The Eifel National Park is the 14th national park in Germany and the first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004, and is classified as a "national park in development".
The Cruachan Power Station is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The scheme can provide 440 MW of power and produced 705 GWh in 2009.
The Urft is a 46.4-kilometre-long (28.8 mi) right-hand tributary of the Rur in the county of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It flows through the village of Urft in the municipality of Kall. The Urft rises in the North Eifel region of the Eifel Mountains.
Vogelsang Training Area lay in the German North Eifel hills between the villages of Simmerath, Heimbach and Schleiden in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was established in 1946 and handed back at the end of 2005, and consisted of the grounds of the former Nazi leadership training centre in the fort of Vogelsang on the Erpenscheid hill plus additional terrain including the so-called Dreiborn Plateau. In the north and east it was bounded by the Urft Reservoir. The training area had an area of around 45 km2 and since 1 January 2006 has been fully incorporated into the Eifel National Park. Until 1950 the training area was run by the British armed forces and thereafter until 31 December 2005 by the Belgian military.
The Urft Dam is a 58.50 metre high dam in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was built in 1905. The dam impounds the River Urft in the district of Euskirchen to create the Urft Reservoir (Urftstausee), 2.16 km² in area. The reservoir is also called the Urftsee.
The Kermeter is an upland region, up to 527.8 m above sea level (NN), which is part of the Rureifel within the North Eifel in the districts of Aachen, Düren and Euskirchen in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
The Obersee near Simmerath in the borough of Aachen is the main forebay of the Rur Reservoir on the River Rur in the Eifel mountains of Germany. Its barrier is the Paulushofdamm. The reservoir, like that of the Rur Dam, belongs to the Eifel-Rur Water Company. The reservoir provides drinking water.
Schöneseiffen is a village southwest of Schleiden in the county of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Dieffenbach stream rises north of the village. Schöneseiffen has a population of 433 (2021). Schöneseiffen has sports field, a Bürgerhaus and a youth centre.
The Olef Dam is located in the vicinity of the Eifel National Park near Hellenthal within the High Fens-Eifel Nature Park in the county of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its reservoir stores around 20 million cubic metres and is fed by the River Olef.
Spannungen is an annual summer festival for chamber music in Heimbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, founded by pianist Lars Vogt in 1998. It is subtitled Musik im Kraftwerk Heimbach. Performances take place over one week in the power station Kraftwerk Heimbach. Many of the concerts with friends and colleagues were recorded live, broadcast by Deutschlandfunk and recorded for label Avi.
