Dams & Hydro

The Stiegler’s Gorge Hydropower project was taken to an advance stage of development and tender documents were prepared in 1980.  At the time, however, the regional power demand was not considered adequate to justify the project and development plans were suspended.  Very significant ongoing electricity demand has recently brought the project back into consideration and a mandate has been granted to Hydro Finance to take the project forward into implementation.

The Stiegler’s Gorge Project will comprise a 130 m high RCC arch dam, a number of fill saddle dams  and underground power stations beneath both flanks of the gorge, with an installed capacity of approximately 1200 MW.  The dam will impound a reservoir of approximately 28 billion m³ and will serve a very important secondary purpose of downstream flood control.

ARQ’s current involvement on the project encompasses updating and revising the earlier design work to incorporate a longer hydrological record, an RCC dam type, a single-phase development and different power generation works.  Updating of the environmental impact assessment studies and design of project infrastructure was undertaken by project partners Golders & J&G respectively.  The work culminated in the production of a bankable feasibility study for the purpose of attracting funding for the project development and implementation.

Project details