Pipmuacan Reservoir

The Réservoir Pipmuacan is an artificial lake in the Canadian province of Québec. It lies on the river Rivière Betsiamites in the community Lac -au- Brochet ( Côte -Nord).

The associated storage power plant Bersimis -1 ( 49 ° 17 ' 44.8 "N, 69 ° 33' 2.9 " W49.295777777778 - 69.550805555556 ) was built with an initial capacity of 912 MW 1953-1956. Operators of the power plant is Hydro-Québec. The damming of the Rivière Betsiamites by the 74 m high dam Barrage Bersimis - 1 at ( 49 ° 21 ' 30.6 "N, 69 ° 46' 15.9 " W49.358508 - 69.771087 ) let the normal traffic jam at 802 km ² large reservoir Réservoir Pipmuacan arise. In the 1990s, the catchment area was enlarged by river diversions. The installed capacity is also increased - at 1178 MW ( 8 turbines). The case height is 266.7 m.

The reservoir has a highly irregular shape, with several deep bays, numerous islands in the western part and a large rounded peninsula in the center. Main tributaries are the rivers Betsiamites, Sylvestre, Hirondelles and Pipmuacan. It is named after the dam flooded Lac Pipmuacan. The name comes from the language of the Innu and means " arrow". According to the missionaries on the Côte -Nord, he recalls the last battle of the Innu against the Iroquois on Mont Pigmaugan, a mountain nearby. Other spellings of the lake before remediation were Pipmuakan, Pipmaugan and Pipmakan.