Akosombo Dam

The dam was conceived in 1915 by geologist Albert Kitson, but no plans were drawn until the 1940s. The development of the Volta River Basin was proposed in 1949, but because funds were insufficient, the American company Volta Aluminum Company (Valco) lent money to Ghana so that the dam could be constructed. President Kwame Nkrumah adopted the Volta River hydropower project and commissioned Australian architect Kenneth Scott to design a residence for him overlooking the dam. The dam is long and high, comprising a high rock-fill embankment dam. It has a base width of and a structural volume of . The reservoir created by the dam, Lake Volta, has a capacity of and a surface area of . The lake is long. Maximum lake level is and minimum is . On the east side of the dam are two adjacent spillways that can discharge about of water. Each spillway contains six -wide and -tall steel floodgates. The dam's power plant contains six Francis turbines. Each turbine is supplied with water via a long and diameter penstock with a maximum of of hydraulic head afforded. The final proposal outlined the building of an aluminum smelter at Tema, a dam constructed at Akosombo to power the smelter, and a network of power lines installed through southern Ghana. The aluminum smelter was expected to eventually provide the revenue necessary for establishing local bauxite mining and refining, which would allow aluminum production without importing foreign alumina. The development of the aluminum industry within Ghana was dependent upon the proposed hydroelectric power. The proposed project's aluminum smelter was overseen by the American company Kaiser Aluminum and is operated by Valco. The smelter received its financial investment from Valco shareholders, with the support of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. However, Valco did not invest without first requiring assurances from Ghana's government, such as company exemptions from taxes on trade and discounted purchases of electricity. The estimated total cost of the project was $258 million. == Construction ==

In May 1960, the Ghana government called for tenders for construction of the hydroelectric dam. In 1961, an Italian consortium, Impregilo which had just completed the Kariba Dam, won the contract. In 1961, the Volta River Authority (VRA) was established by Ghana's Parliament through the passage of the Volta River Development Act. The VRA's fundamental operations were structured by six Board members and Nkrumah as chairman. The VRA's primary task is to manage the development of the Volta River Basin, which included the construction and supervision of the dam, the power station and the power transmission network. The VRA is responsible for the reservoir impounded by the dam, fishing within the lake, lake transportation and communication, and the welfare of those surrounding the lake. Impreglio carried out the dredging of the river bed and dewatering of the channel, and completed the dam a month earlier than scheduled despite flooding of the Volta River in 1963 which delayed work over three months. Between 1961 and 1966, 28 workers of Impregilo died during the construction of the dam. Memorials in Akosombo township and St. Barbara Catholic Church have been put up in their honor. The construction of the Akosombo Dam resulted in the flooding of part of the Volta River Basin and its upstream fields, and in the creation of Lake Volta which covers 3.6% of Ghana's total land area. People of 700 villages were relocated into 52 resettlement villages two years prior to the dam's completion; the resettlement program was under the direction of the VRA. Two percent of the resettlement population were riparian fishers, and most were subsistence farmers. specimen banknote == Power generation ==

The dam provides electricity to Ghana and its neighboring West African countries, including Togo and Benin. Initially, the dam's power production capabilities greatly exceeded actual demand; while the demand since the dam's inception has resulted in the doubling of hydropower production. Ghana's industrial and economic expansion triggered higher demand for power, beyond the Akosombo's power plant capabilities. By 1981, a smaller dam was built at Kpong, downstream from Akosombo, upgrades to Akosombo became necessary to maintain hydropower output. During the latter half of 2007, much of this concern abated when heavy rain fell in the catchment area of Volta River. In 2010, the highest-ever water level was recorded at the dam. This necessitated the opening of the flood gates at a reservoir elevation of and, for several weeks, water was spilled from the lake, causing some flooding downstream. == Impacts ==

The Akosombo Dam benefited some industrial and economic activities from the addition of lake transportation, increased fishing, new farming activities along the shoreline, and tourism. Since the installation of the dam, these diseases have increased markedly. In particular, resettlement villages have shown an increase in disease prevalence since the establishment of Lake Volta, and a village's likelihood of infection corresponds to its proximity to the lake. == Spillage ==

Until 2023, the last time Akosombo dam community experienced flooding as a result of controlled spillage of the dam was in 2010. On 15 September 2023, the Volta River Authority (VRA) initiated a controlled spillage of water from the Akosombo and Kpong dams situated in the Eastern Region. This controlled spillage led to flooding in communities located along the lower Volta Basin leading to power interruptions. Many victims lost their belongings and livelihood due to the floods. == See also ==