Akosombo Dam
Sign in to saveAlso known as Volta Dam, Ajena Dam, Akosombo, Akosombodam, Akosombo uztvanka
dam and tourist site in Akosombo, Volta Region of Ghana
Key facts
- Location
- Akosombo , Ghana
- Status
- Operational
- Construction cost
- £130 million
- Owner
- Volta River Authority
- Type of dam
- Embankment, rock-fill
- Impounds
- Volta River
- Height foundation
- 114 m (374 ft)
- Length
- 660 m (2,170 ft)
- Width base
- 366 m (1,201 ft)
- Dam volume
- 7,900,000 m (280,000,000 cu ft)
- Spillways
- Twin gate-controlled
- Spillway capacity
- 34,000 m /s (1,200,000 cu ft/s)
- Creates
- Lake Volta
- Total capacity
- 148 km (120,000,000 acre⋅ft)
- Surface area
- 8,502 km (3,283 sq mi)
- Maximum length
- 400 km (250 mi)
- Hydraulic head
- 68.8 m (226 ft) (max)
- Turbines
- 6 x 170 MW (230,000 hp) Francis-type
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- hydroelectric power station
- Country
- Ghana
- Located in
- Asuogyaman District
- Continent
- Africa
- Body of water
- Volta River
- Owned by
- Volta River Authority
- Operator
- Volta River Authority
- Location
- Akosombo
- Image
- Akosombo Dam.jpg
- Height
- 114
- Width
- 366
- Length
- 660
- Has use
- hydroelectricity
- Has parts of class
- spillway
Show 10 more facts
- located in/on physical feature
- Volta River
- Commons category
- Akosombo Dam
- nominal power output
- 1020
- date of official opening
- 1965-00-00
- reservoir created
- Lake Volta
- volume as quantity
- 7900000
- discharge
- 34000
- inception
- 1291-00-00
- service entry
- 1965-00-00
- different from
- Akosombo
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led to the subsequent creation of Lake Volta. Lake Volta is the largest man-made lake in the world by surface area. It covers 8,502 square kilometres (3,283 sq mi), which is 3.6% of Ghana's land area. With a volume of 148 cubic kilometers, Lake Volta is the world's third-largest man-made lake by volume; the largest being Lake Kariba which contains 185 cubic kilometers of water.
The primary purpose of the Akosombo Dam was to provide electricity for the aluminium industry. The Akosombo Dam was called "the largest single investment in the economic development plans of Ghana." The dam is significant for providing the majority of both Togo and Benin's electricity, although the construction of the Adjarala Dam (on Togo's Mono River) hopes to reduce these countries' reliance on imported electricity. The dam's original electrical output was 912 megawatts (1,223,000 hp), which was upgraded to 1,020 megawatts (1,370,000 hp) in a retrofit project that was completed in 2006.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Akosombo Dam” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.