Kajaki Dam

{{Short description|Dam in Helmand, Afghanistan}}

{{Infobox dam

| name = Kajaki Dam

| name_official =

| image = Kajaki Dam.jpg

| image_caption = Aerial view of the Kajaki Dam in 2007

| image_alt =

| location_map = Afghanistan

| location_map_size =

| location_map_caption =

| location_map_relief = 1

| coordinates = {{coord|32|19|19|N|65|7|8|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| country = Afghanistan

| location = Kajaki District, Helmand Province

| purpose = Irrigation and electricity

| status = O

| construction_began = 1951

| opening = 1953

| demolished =

| cost =

| owner = Ministry of Energy and Water

| dam_type = Embankment

| dam_height = {{Cvt|100|m}}

| dam_height_thalweg =

| dam_height_foundation=

| dam_length = {{Cvt|270|m}}

| dam_width_crest = {{Cvt|10|m}}

| dam_width_base =

| dam_volume =

| dam_elevation_crest =

| dam_crosses = Helmand River

| spillway_count =

| spillway_type =

| spillway_capacity =

| res_name =

| res_capacity_total = {{Cvt|1715|e6m3|acre.ft|0|abbr=on}}

| res_capacity_active = {{Cvt|1134|e6m3|acre.ft|0|abbr=on}}

| res_capacity_inactive=

| res_catchment =

| res_surface =

| res_elevation =

| res_max_depth =

| res_max_length =

| res_max_width =

| res_tidal_range =

| plant_operator = Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA)

| plant_commission = 1975

| plant_decommission =

| plant_type =

| plant_turbines = 2 x 16.5 MW, 1 x 18.5 MW Francis-type{{cite web|title=Hydroelectric Power Plants in Afghanistan|url=http://www.industcards.com/hydro-afghanistan.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206003627/http://www.industcards.com/hydro-afghanistan.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=6 December 2012|publisher=IndustCards|access-date=7 February 2012}}

| plant_capacity = 51 MW

| plant_annual_gen =

| website =

| extra =

}}

The Kajaki Dam is "an earth and rockfill embankment type dam"{{Cite web |url=https://ceytun.com/portfolio-items/kajaki-dam/ |title=Projects Completed |publisher=CEYTUN Construction & Trade Inc. |date=2018 |access-date=2023-05-22}} located on the Helmand River in the Kajaki District of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, about {{cvt|161|km}} northwest of Kandahar. It has a hydroelectric power station, which is operated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority through the Ministry of Energy and Water.

Kajaki Dam has a dual function, to provide electricity and to irrigate some {{cvt|263045|ha}} or {{cvt|1800|km2}} of an otherwise arid land. Water discharging from the dam traverses some 300 miles (500 km) of downstream irrigation canals feeding farmland. {{As of|July 2022}} it produces up to 151 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

The dam is {{cvt|100|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high and {{cvt|270|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, with a gross storage capacity of {{cvt|1715000000|m3|acre.ft|0|abbr=on}} of fresh water. The dam controls the output of the main watershed which feeds the Sistan Basin.

==History==

Final studies for the dam began in 1946 and a preliminary design was crafted in 1950. The dam was built between 1951 and 1953 by the American Morrison–Knudsen firm as part of the Helmand Valley Authority project.{{cite web|title=Kajakai Hydroelectric Project Condition Assessment Dam Safety Assessment Report|url=http://www.afghaneic.org/library/provinces/helmand/reference%20list/hydro/DSA%20Total%20Report.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208090246/http://www.afghaneic.org/library/provinces/helmand/reference%20list/hydro/DSA%20Total%20Report.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-02-08|publisher=Acres International Corporation|access-date=7 February 2012|location=Amherst, New York|date=April 2004}}

In 1975, USAID commissioned the initial installation of two 16.5 MW generating units in a powerhouse constructed at the toe of the dam. This first stage powerhouse was actually constructed to house three equally sized units. Only units 1 and 3 were installed originally.

File:Kajaki Dam and spillway in 2012.jpg to the right]]

Before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the contractors had already left the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_8529/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807181032/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_8529/index.html|archive-date=7 August 2014|title=Helmand's Golden Age|work=BBC News|access-date=2022-06-22}} They had intended to raise the dam by {{cvt|2|m}} in order to increase the available water for power production and irrigation. They were also excavating an emergency spillway which was never completed. Gates were also never installed in the service spillway so the dam passes all water in the reservoir above elevation of {{cvt|1033.5|m}}. Completion of the spillway gates would increase the total storage capacity of the reservoir by {{cvt|1010000000|m3|acre.ft|0|abbr=on}} to {{cvt|2725000000|m3|acre.ft|0|abbr=on}}.

The Kajaki dam powerhouse was a bombing target of the US Air Force during their attack on Afghanistan in October 2001.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cursor.org/stories/casualty_count.htm |title=Kajakai list as October 31, 2002 aerial bombing location |access-date=July 29, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110060516/http://cursor.org/stories/casualty_count.htm |archive-date=November 10, 2016 |url-status=dead }}

With funding from USAID, World Bank and other donors, Units 1 and 3 were fully rehabilitated and the power station had an installed capacity of 33 MW.{{cite news

| url=http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/documents/countries/afghanistan/afgh_infrastructure_jul2007.pdf

| title=Afghanistan: Infrastructure

| publisher=USAID

| date=July 2007

| access-date=2008-10-07

| archive-date=2008-10-08

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008010048/http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/documents/countries/afghanistan/afgh_infrastructure_jul2007.pdf

| url-status=dead

}} Unit 1 was operational in September 2005 and Unit 3 in October 2009.{{cite web|title=Kajakai Dam Powerhouse Boosts Power to 33 MW, Benefitting Thousands in SW Afghanistan|url=https://www.irp-af.com/?pname=open&id=261&type=html|publisher=Afghanistan IRP (Louis Berger Group, Inc.)|access-date=7 February 2012|date=24 October 2009|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213035/https://www.irp-af.com/?pname=open&id=261&type=html|url-status=dead}}

The Unit 3 rehabilitation began in May 2006, with a scheduled return to service in early 2007. The new 18.5 MW Unit 2 turbine/generator had been contracted to China Machine Building International Corporation, which is headquartered in Beijing. The work was to be supervised by Montgomery Watson Harza and was planned to be completed by June 2007 but the work was not completed.

In February 2007, the Kajakai Dam was the subject of fighting between coalition forces and Taliban insurgents, as part of Operation Kryptonite.[http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP287758.htm Taliban flee battle using children as shields - NATO], February 14, 2007 According to the governor of Helmand province, Assadullah Wafa, over 700 Taliban insurgents (including Pakistanis, Chechens and Uzbeks) coming from neighboring Pakistan fought against over 300 coalition troops.[http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n105616 US defense secretary in Pakistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181414/http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n105616 |date=2007-09-30 }}, February 12, 2007 Most of the coalition troops were Dutch and British. The number of casualties mentioned varies.

Central to the long term energy security and sustained economic growth of southern Afghanistan is the rehabilitation and expansion of the Kajaki hydroelectric power plant. As a critical component of the Southern Electrical Power System, the capacity of the Kajaki plant would be expanded to 51 MW with a future potential for an additional 100 MW.

File:Kajaki Dam on the Heland River on 2013-03-09.jpg]]

File:Inside the power station at the Kajaki Dam in 2012.jpg

File:Power lines and substation connected to the Kajaki dam’s hydroelectric powerplant.jpg

In late August 2008 a contingent of ISAF and Afghan troops successfully transported the third turbine (Unit 2) from Kandahar to the Kajaki Dam. The operation was British-led and codenamed Operation Oqab Tsuka, meaning "Eagle's Summit" in Pashto.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/BritishTroopsCompleteOperationToDeliverVitalPowerTurbine.htm |title=British Troops Complete Operation to Deliver Turbine |access-date=2008-09-02 |archive-date=2008-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904041201/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/BritishTroopsCompleteOperationToDeliverVitalPowerTurbine.htm |url-status=dead }}

A BBC report on the unassembled and uninstalled turbine in June 2011 estimated project completion in late 2013.

{{cite news

|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13925886

|title=What went wrong with Afghanistan Kajaki power project?

|work=BBC News report by Mark Urban

|access-date=2011-06-28

}} Despite the turbine being delivered onsite in 2008, over 7 years later it had still not been installed, as its installation required 700 tonnes of cement which could not be delivered to the dam due to attacks by the Taliban.

{{cite news

|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/18/british-engineers-evacuated-key-afghan-dam-taliban-approach-kajaki

|title=British engineers evacuated from key Afghan dam as Taliban approach

|work=The Guardian

|author=The Guardian *with Additional reporting by Rauf Mehrpoor

|date=2015-09-18

|access-date=2015-09-18

}} The purpose of these projects were to improve distribution of electrical power to the people of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.{{cite news|last=Marshall|first=Karla|title=Corps of Engineers to improve access to water, power in southern Afghanistan|url=https://www.army.mil/article/82432/Corps_of_Engineers_to_improve_access_to_water__power_in_southern_Afghanistan/|access-date=25 June 2012|newspaper=Press Release, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers|date=25 June 2012}}

In February 2015, USAID anticipated completion in 2016.{{cite web|title=Installation of Turbine Generator Unit 2 at Kajaki Dam Hydropower Plant (Kajaki Unit 2)|url=https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/installation-turbine-generator-unit-2-kajaki-dam-hydropower-plant|publisher=U.S. AID|access-date=24 March 2015|date=3 February 2015|archive-date=3 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703155108/https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/installation-turbine-generator-unit-2-kajaki-dam-hydropower-plant|url-status=dead}} When the turbine came online, and a new grid of power lines were established to distribute the power, the dam was able to provide 51 megawatts of power.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7593901.stm UK Troops in Huge Turbine Mission] The project reduced reliance on more expensive and dirtier diesel generation, and nearly doubled the amount of renewable energy distributed to Kandahar. The Afghan electric authority assumed full responsibility for operations and maintenance in March 2017.{{cite web |title=INSTALLATION OF TURBINE GENERATOR UNIT 2 AT KAJAKI DAM HYDROPOWER PLANT |url=https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/installation-turbine-generator-unit-2-kajaki-dam-hydropower-plant |website=USAID |access-date=11 June 2018 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703155108/https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/fact-sheets/installation-turbine-generator-unit-2-kajaki-dam-hydropower-plant |url-status=dead }}