Cahora Bassa Dam, Mozambique

Cahora Bassa, also spelled Cabora Bassa. This arch Dam and hydroelectric facility on the Zambezi River, is located in the Western part of Mozambique. The Cahora Bassa hydroelectric Dam was the last megaproject constructed in Africa during the era of decolonization. At the time of its construction, was the fifth largest Dam in the World. It is one of the three major Dams on the Zambezi river system, the others being the Kariba and the Itezhi-Tezhi, the latter on the Kafue River, a tributary of the Zambezi. The Dam was built by a consortium of Portuguese, German, British, and South African companies. The construction of the Dam began in 1969 and was completed in 1974. The last of the five 425-megawatt generators was installed in 1979. Cahora Bassa Dam supplies power primarily to South Africa by using a power line over a 1 400 Kilometers long. This Dam is one of the largest Dams ever constructed specifically to export energy. The dam impounds Lake Cahora Bassa, which extends Westward for 240 km to the point where the borders of Zambia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe converge. The lake measures 31 kilometres wide at its widest point and has a capacity of 63,000,000,000 cubic Metres.