Lower Kaleköy Dam and HEPP

The project involved the construction of the 500.10 MW Lower Kaleköy generating station is located on the Murat River, in Bingöl province of eastern Türkiye.

The dam consists of a 510-meter long water impermeable asphalt core rock-fill embankment on the left bank of the river, and a 435-meter long concrete gravity section which extends to the right abutment, constitute a composite length of 945 meters with a height of 110 meters. The concrete portion of the dam comprises a roller-compacted-concrete (RCC) gravity structure which incorporates an integral concrete-lined spillway in the middle controlled by six (6) radial gates with a discharge capacity of 9,300 m³/s, and a frontal water intake located on an excavated ground at the right abutment.

The river diversion entailed the excavation of two (2) tunnels, 510 meters and 521 meters long, excavated to a diameter of 11 meters, and lined with reinforced concrete to a final diameter of 9.5 meters respectively.

Almost 7 million cubic meters of rock and earth were excavated for the foundations of the dam, including the spillway, intake structures, powerplant, and diversion tunnels. About 380,000 m³ conventional concrete were utilized for these permanent structures. More than 3,700,000 m³ of material were required to build the rock-fill embankment, and a total of 1,900,000 m³ of roller-compacted-concrete (RCC), were placed for the concrete gravity section to form the composite dam.

The scope also included the construction of the semi-underground powerplant with the installation of three (3) vertical shaft Francis-turbine generator units and one (1) eco-flow unit, with a total installed capacity of 500.10 MW.