Having the longest and largest body in the world in its class, Ilısu Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant was officially opened with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. At the opening of the dam, which started generating energy with the commissioning of the first turbine on May 19, 2020, a 2-meter (2-kilometer) ribbon was cut to represent its length. Speaking at the opening, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli said, “The Ilısu Dam, which will produce 4 billion 120 million kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric energy annually, will contribute 3 billion liras to the national economy annually. This amount of production means meeting the annual energy needs of a city like Ankara with a population of 6 million.”
Ilısu, the world's largest dam with a concrete-faced rockfill dam type, with a filling volume of 24 million cubic meters and a body length of 2 meters, is also Turkey's 327th largest hydroelectric power plant. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu Dam and HEPP was officially opened. At the ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a 4-meter ribbon was cut, which represents the length of the building and carried by the employees who contributed to the construction of the dam.
Speaking at the opening, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli, Prof. Dr. Stating that the Veysel Eroğlu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant is a masterpiece that has been brought to our country in the field of water, by saying “Water is the Homeland”, we are mobilizing all our resources today and tomorrow, as it was yesterday, and we strive to offer the best to 84 million people in the most efficient way. In the last 19 years, we have commissioned thousands of facilities in the water field. Thanks to these investments, we have reached a level that can store more than three times the annual water consumption of our country. We have increased our irrigated agricultural area to more than twice that of Belgium. We provided additional drinking and utility water, equivalent to two and a half times the annual need of Istanbul.”
ILISU WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO IRRIGATION
Officially inaugurated Ilısu Prof. Dr. Stating that the planning studies of Veysel Eroğlu Dam and HEPP date back to the 1950s, Minister Pakdemirli continued as follows:
“This magnificent facility, which is one of the most important facilities of the GAP Project and built on the Tigris River, will contribute 1.200 billion liras to the national economy by producing 4 billion 120 million kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power annually with an installed power of 3 MW. This amount of production means meeting the annual energy need of a city like Ankara with a population of 6 million. The project, together with the resettlement works, the protection of historical and cultural assets and other constructions, cost approximately 20 billion liras. Ilısu Dam will also contribute to irrigation. It will be possible to irrigate 1 million decares of agricultural land with the water regulated at the dam and released to the Cizre Dam that we will build.”
HISTORY AND CULTURAL ASSETS PROTECTED
Minister Pakdemirli emphasized that Ilısu is an exemplary project for the preservation of history and cultural assets. Minister Pakdemirli stated that Hasankeyf Upper City was reorganized within the scope of the project and said, “The historical and cultural assets in Hasankeyf Lower City, which was affected by the dam lake area, were moved with extremely meticulous methods, removed from the dam lake area and positioned in their final places. The residential area of Hasankeyf district, which was 51 hectares, was increased to 6 hectares with an increase of approximately 295 times. Midyat-Dargeçit Road, where vehicles had difficulty passing before, was rebuilt within the scope of dam construction. In addition to the 52-kilometer access road, a 250-meter-long bridge was built over the Tigris River. Within the scope of the dam construction, 250 kilometers of asphalt-covered village roads were built in Batman, Siirt, Şırnak and Diyarbakır.”
ILISU PROF. DR. FEATURES OF VEYSEL EROĞLU DAM AND HEPP
The first turbine started production on 19 May 2020
The dam, with a height of 135 meters from the foundation, a filling volume of 24 million cubic meters and a body length of 2 thousand 327 meters, is in the "rock fill dam with concrete front" type, ranking 1st in the world in terms of filling volume and body length.
· The dam built on the Tigris River is the 4th largest hydroelectric power plant in our country after Atatürk, Karakaya and Keban dams in terms of installed capacity and the 2nd largest dam in Turkey in terms of filling volume. Ilısu Dam is also the dam with the 10,6rd largest storage volume of our country, after Atatürk and Keban dams, with a storage capacity of 3 billion cubic meters.
· Ilısu Dam and HEPP started energy production with the commissioning of the first turbine on May 19, 2020. With the commissioning of the other 2020 turbines, which were put into operation from this date until the end of 5, the facility started to produce energy at full capacity.
· Since its commissioning, the dam has produced approximately 3,7 billion kilowatt-hours of electrical energy, contributing 2,6 billion TL to the national economy.
· Within the scope of the project, the historical and cultural assets in Hasankeyf Lower City, which was affected by the dam lake area, were moved to their new places with sensitive methods and meticulous engineering.
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