The Ilısu Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tigris near the village of Ilısu and along the border of Mardin and Şırnak Provinces in Turkey. It is one of the 22 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and its purpose is hydroelectric power production, flood control and water storage. When operational, the dam will support a 1,200 MW power station and will form a 10.4 billion m3 reservoir.
Construction of the dam began in 2006 and was originally expected to be completed by 2016. As part of the project, the much smaller Cizre Dam is to be constructed downstream for irrigation and power. The dam has drawn international controversy, because it will flood portions of ancient Hasankeyf and necessitate the relocation of people living in the region. Because of this, the dam lost international funding in 2008. Kurdish Kurdistan Workers' Party militants have also attacked infrastructure associated with the dam which led to construction delays. The dam began to fill its reservoir in late July 2019. Due to rainfalls dam has achieved the water level upto 100 meters above the river bed and stored 5 billion cubic meter of water. The water level has reached to the elevation of 498.2 meter on 1 April 2020.
DSI has started testing 2 turbines for energy production after completing the spillway testing. Dam has attained a storage of 7.6 billion cubic meters water volume. Water storage crest level was 513m on 19 April 2020. It would need 12m rise to achieve the maximum storage level. The first of six generators was commissioned on 19 May 2020, while its power plant is scheduled to reach full capacity by the end of 2020.
The Ilısu Dam will be a 135 m (443 ft) high and 1,820 m (5,971 ft) wide rock-fill embankment dam with a structural volume of 43,900,000 m3 (35,590 acre⋅ft). It will be 15 m (49 ft) wide at its crest and 610 m (2,001 ft) wide at its base. The dam will have an overflow spillway on its right bank which will be controlled by eight radial gates which will pour into four chutes before the water reaches a plunge pool. Its power station will be above ground and will contain 6 x 200 MW Francis turbine-generators with an expected annual generation of 3,833 GWh and gross hydraulic head of 122.6 m (402 ft). The dam's reservoir will have a capacity of 10,400,000,000 m3 (8,431,417 acre⋅ft), of which 7,460,000,000 m3 (6,050,000 acre⋅ft) will be active (or live, useful) storage and 2,950,000,000 m3 (2,390,000 acre⋅ft) will be inactive (dead) storage. At a normal elevation of 525 m (1,722 ft) above sea level, the reservoir surface area will cover 313 km2 (121 sq mi).
Beginning in 1954 the Turkish government surveyed 53 kilometres (33 mi) of the Tigris river downstream of Diyarbakır with the aim of identifying suitable locations for a hydroelectric power plant at an elevation below 550 metres (1,800 ft). Turkey's Electric Power Resources Survey and Development Administration (EIE) included 10 potential sites in its 1971 Tigris River Pre-Investigation Report. By 1975, the EIE had completed a technical and economic evaluation of the sites. Ilısu was selected as the preferred site for geological reasons. A feasibility study and final design by international consultants (1980–82) resulted in a recommendation to construct both the Ilısu Dam and the Cizre Dam downstream. More details
Construction of the dam began in 2006 and was originally expected to be completed by 2016. As part of the project, the much smaller Cizre Dam is to be constructed downstream for irrigation and power. The dam has drawn international controversy, because it will flood portions of ancient Hasankeyf and necessitate the relocation of people living in the region. Because of this, the dam lost international funding in 2008. Kurdish Kurdistan Workers' Party militants have also attacked infrastructure associated with the dam which led to construction delays. The dam began to fill its reservoir in late July 2019. Due to rainfalls dam has achieved the water level upto 100 meters above the river bed and stored 5 billion cubic meter of water. The water level has reached to the elevation of 498.2 meter on 1 April 2020.DSI has started testing 2 turbines for energy production after completing the spillway testing. Dam has attained a storage of 7.6 billion cubic meters water volume. Water storage crest level was 513m on 19 April 2020. It would need 12m rise to achieve the maximum storage level. The first of six generators was commissioned on 19 May 2020, while its power plant is scheduled to reach full capacity by the end of 2020.
The Ilısu Dam will be a 135 m (443 ft) high and 1,820 m (5,971 ft) wide rock-fill embankment dam with a structural volume of 43,900,000 m3 (35,590 acre⋅ft). It will be 15 m (49 ft) wide at its crest and 610 m (2,001 ft) wide at its base. The dam will have an overflow spillway on its right bank which will be controlled by eight radial gates which will pour into four chutes before the water reaches a plunge pool. Its power station will be above ground and will contain 6 x 200 MW Francis turbine-generators with an expected annual generation of 3,833 GWh and gross hydraulic head of 122.6 m (402 ft). The dam's reservoir will have a capacity of 10,400,000,000 m3 (8,431,417 acre⋅ft), of which 7,460,000,000 m3 (6,050,000 acre⋅ft) will be active (or live, useful) storage and 2,950,000,000 m3 (2,390,000 acre⋅ft) will be inactive (dead) storage. At a normal elevation of 525 m (1,722 ft) above sea level, the reservoir surface area will cover 313 km2 (121 sq mi).
