Kainji Lake

BW

The Kainji Dam is a dam on the Niger in the north- west Nigeria. He is dammed since 1968 by the Kainji Dam and is part of the states of Niger and Kebbi. He is as Erdschüttdamm combined with a gravity dam built. The average 12.1 m deep reservoir is maximum 1243 km ² in size and accumulates 15 billion cubic meters of water. He is on the area of the largest and after the memory contents of the second largest artificial lake in Nigeria. Only the under construction Zungeru Reservoir will be greater. The lying in the reservoir Foge Islands were declared in 2008 at a wetland of international importance and included in the list of the Ramsar Convention.

Dam

The dam is located south of the lake in Niger State and produces electricity for most cities in Nigeria. Its construction lasted from 1964 to 1968 and cost an estimated $ 209 million, a quarter of which was used for the resettlement of the population. Together with the smaller dam on a creek it is 10 km long and at its highest point, in the center, 65 m high. The dam is built for twelve turbines with an output of 960 MW, of which only ten have been installed, which produce about 800 MW. Part of this energy is sold to the neighboring country of Niger.