Suzondaşt Dam
| Suzondaşt Dam | |
|---|---|
 The Suzondaşt Dam on April 16 2016 | |
| Official name | Nerugohi Obiyi Suzondaşt Suzondaşt Hydroelectric Station |
| Country | Karzaristan |
| Location | Suzondaşt, Suzondaşt Şahriston, Darvoz Viloyat |
| Construction began | 1972 |
| Opening date | 14 May 1981 |
| Built by | Government of Karzaristan |
| Owner(s) | Suzondaşt Dam Administration (subsidiary of the Comissariat of Energy) |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity, with buttress and embankment sections |
| Impounds | Darvoz River |
| Height (thalweg) | 196 m |
| Length | 7,919 m |
| Dam volume | 12,300,000 m³ |
| Spillways | 62,200 m³/s |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Darvoz |
| Total capacity | 44 km³ |
| Surface area | 3,000 km² |
| Maximum length | 250 km |
| Maximum width | 15 km |
| Normal elevation | 290 m |
| Operator(s) | Suzondaşt Dam Administration |
| Type | Conventional |
| Hydraulic head | 118 m |
| Turbines | 20 × 700 MW (940,000 hp) Francis-type |
| Installed capacity | 14 GW (19,000,000 hp) |
| 2018 generation | 89.5 tWh (322 PJ) |
The Suzondaşt Dam (Karzari: Nerugohi Obiyi Suzondaşt is a hydroelectric dam built across the Darvoz River in Suzondaşt, Karzaristan for the purpose of electric power generation, flood control, drought prevention, and water storage. Built between 1972 and 1984, the Suzondaşt Dam was a key part of the 9th Five-Year Plan which sought to end Karzaristan's dependence on Zorasan for energy and turn the country into a net exporter of electricity. Today, the dam is seen as a symbol of Karzaristan's successful industrialization and has had a significant effect on Karzaristan's economy.
Named after the nearby city of Suzondaşt, its name in Karzari means "Burning plain". The Suzondaşt Hydroelectric Station has a generation capacity of 14 GW from 20 turbines producing 700 GW each with a hydraulic head of 118 meters. The Hydroelectric Station produces an average of 89.5 tWh per year, more than half of Karzaristan's power and the highest of any power plant in Coius. In 2010, it set a record of producing 109.17 tWh. The Hydroelectric Station is responsible for over half of the energy production of the Viloyats of Darvoz, Raxş, and Sarmatiston where the majority of Karzaristan's population lives. With 4,038 employees, the dam is also the largest employer in Suzondaşt.
History
The Darvoz River has historically acted as a lifeline for major cities such as Şahrixazar, Rostamşoh, and Qattaqahramon with water, supporting massive irrigation networks since ancient times. Fed by the glaciers of the Hormazdaran mountains in Osruşana, the river would rise in the spring as the glaciers melted. While this made farming along the Darvoz River fairly reliable, in years where the water level was particularly high there could be floods that destroyed crops while in years where it was low there could be droughts and famines. As Karzaristan's population grew during industrialization, the desire to harness the Darvoz for hydroelectric power generation and control its water level for the protection of farmland and water storage in case of drought arose.
Background
In 1970, the first session of the National Assembly of Karzaristan approved the 9th Five-Year Plan set out by the Politburo. Along with outlining Karzaristan's transition from a planned economy to a market socialist system, it called on the Karzari government to end its energy dependence on Zorasan and transform Karzaristan into a net exporter of electricity. These radical changes were the result of the 9th Congress of the Ahuri Socialist Union. During its first day, the Congress voted to replace over half of the Central Committee with new members in response to the 1969 Crisis. On the second day, the Central Committee rejected the re-election of Javidan Dinşoh as General Secretary, replacing him with Jahansuz Mihran who had the support of Hormazd Şahrixazari and Timur Xonzoda (the three of whom would soon comprise the leading troika of Karzaristan, with the latter two becoming President and Prime Minister respectively). On the fourth day, the Congress voted in favor of a series of guidelines authored by Mihran, Şahrixazari, and Xonzoda that would form the basis of the 9th Five-Year Plan. Among those guidelines was a statement considering the hydroelectric potential of the Darvoz and Tezdaryo rivers.
Construction
In 1971, the National Assembly approved the construction of a dam across the Darvoz and the Commissariat of Energy announced a design competition for the dam among engineering schools and state-owned construction firms across the country. The winner was Tahmuras Mirzo, an engineer at the Hydroelectricity Institute of the Raxş School of Engineering who led a team of colleagues to develop a plan that would be built near the city of Suzondaşt. The plan was formally approved and presented to the public in August of 1971. Design studies began in November that year. Construction began in May of 1972.
On August 25, 1975, the Darvoz River had its route changed so that a section of the riverbed could dry in order for the dam to be built there. On February 21, 1979 the dam was completed and the gates of the side canal were closed so that the reservoir could be filled. On March 11, the water of the Lake Darvoz Reservoir reached the gates of the spillway.
Start of operations
On May 14, 1981 the first generation unit started running at Suzondaşt. The remaining 19 units were installed at a rate of four per year, with the last unit installed in 1986. An estimated 30,000 workers are thought to have been employed for its construction.
Effects
The Suzondaşt Dam has increased agricultural production, mitigated the severity of droughts, prevented flooding in larger stretches of the Darvoz, and along with the Haƶdaxon and Vahdat dams has fulfilled its stated goal of transforming Karzaristan into an exporter of electricity.
Among the greatest contributions of the dam was that it allowed Karzaristan to reclaim 4,200 km² in the Darvoz Delta and along the Darzov itself, increasing the region's irrigated area by over a quarter. The increase was largely due to the irrigation of what used to be desert and the cultivation of 2,100 km² that were previously used for flood retention. The area under water-intensive crops such as rice, sugarcane, and cotton cultivation increased as well because water could now be made available year-round when its availability would be low in different circumstances.
Conversely, the dam flooded a large area, causing the relocation of 75,000 people. 25,000 people from communities surrounding Suzondaşt were relocated to planned districts within the city built to accommodate them. 50,000 people from more distant agricultural communities were resettled in twenty planned towns that were part of an irrigation project to intensify the production of cotton, sugarcane, and wheat around Lake Darvoz.
