TECHNICAL | HYDRO POWER CAVERNS
Largest PSP cavern heads (m) San Fiorano, Italy
Edolo, Italy
Bissorte 2, France Omarugawa, Japan Entraque, Italy
Grandmaison, France La Coche, France Bissorte 2, France
Veytaux, Switzerland Aurland, Norway
Largest surge caverns according to volume (m3 Xiluodu, China (x2)
Baihetan, China
La Grande 2, Canada Longtan, China
Shuangjiangkou, China Dachaoshan, China Yebatan, China Yageng 2, China Guandi, China
Lianghekou, China Ertan, China
Largest power tunnels according to length (m) Karahnjukar, Iceland
Shuakhevi, Georgia Longtan, China
Shuangjiangkou, China La Grande 2, Canada Gilgel Gibe 2, Ethiopia Dachaoshan, China Ertan, China
Cahora Bass, Mozambique La Grande 2A, Canada Xinma, China
)
545,000 471,000 446,000 309,000 309,000 256,000 253,000 248,000 229,000 203,000 206,000
39,700 37,400 32,000 31,000 27,000 26,000 25,800 24,800 24,000 23,400 22,975
Largest PSP tailrace tunnels according to length (m) Torrejon, Spain
Rio Grande, Argentina Kodali, India Taloro, Italy
Caraguatatuba, Brazil Tianchi, China Minghu, Taiwan
Kazunogawa, Japan Mosul 3, Iraq
Three plants with
6,000 5,500 4,800 4,000 3,800 3,160 2,800 3,200 2,800
L = 2,500
1,400 1,200 1,160 1,040 1,020 950 940 877 865 850
Largest conventional cavern net heads (m) Fortun, Norway
Curciusa, Switzerland L. Kihansi, Tanzania Acri 1, Italy
Karahnjukar, Iceland Retezat, Romania Fljotsdallur, Iceland Teesta 1, India Lomi, Norway
Miel & San Carlos, Colombia
Largest surge shafts according to volume (m3 Bursar, India (planned)
Jinping 1, China (x2) Wangchhu, India Ram Pur, India Teesta IV, India Luhri, India
Nuozhadu, China Larji, India Boinu, India
Cirata, Indonesia Shongtong, India
Largest tailrace tunnels according to length (m) Manapouri, NewZealand
Karuma, Uganda Zhinvali, Georgia Fortuna, Panama Canicada, Portugal Beles, Ethiopia
Lower Cunene, Angola Fulpmes, Austria
Alto Lindoso, Portugal )
120,000 106,000 85,000 84,000 84,000 79,000 79,000 76,000 75,000 74,000 73,000
10,000 8,600 8,600 8,100 7,500 7,100 7,000 5,200 5,000
NB: All conventional plants. Smaller tailrace lengths result for pumped storage plants
Largest transformer caverns according to volume (m3 Laxiwa, China
Longtan, China
Baihetan, China (x2) Xiluodu, China (x2) Wudongde, China (x2) Nuozhadu, China Karun 3, Iran
Mambilla, Nigeria Rogun, Tajikistan
)
336,000 220,000 200,000 157,000 153,000 138,000 130,000 123,000 116,000
975 942 850 630 600 582 580 577 560 555
To rank within the top ten plants with the longest
tailrace tunnel lengths, 5000m and 2500m have to be exceeded for conventional and pumped storage plants, respectively. It is also interesting to discover how frequently
smaller caverns with a small total installed turbine capacity were found to be competitive by observing the 90 caverns listed with a total excavation volume of
16 | September 2023
less than 20,000m3
: the smallest cavern size listed is
8m x 8m x 30m; and the smallest excavation volume size is approximately 1000m3
. Further small caverns are
currently being prepared for construction in Greenland and Nepal, but information on their exact size is unavailable. Keys are used to represent the prevailing host rock type, cross-section shape, and rock quality class.
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