Búðarháls Power Plant
| Búðarháls Hydropower Plant | |
|---|---|
| Country | Iceland |
| Coordinates | 64°14′07″N 19°22′09″W / 64.23528°N 19.36917°W |
| Status | Optional |
| Opening date | March 7, 2014 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment, two rock-fill dams |
| Impounds | Tungnaá River Kaldakvísl River |
| Height | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Length | 170 m (560 ft) 1,100 m (3,600 ft) |
| Dam volume | 25,500 m3 (900,000 cu ft) (170m x 25m x 6m) 165,000 m3 (5,800,000 cu ft) (1100m x 25m x 6m) |
| Spillways | 1 |
| Spillway type | Headrace tunnel, penstock |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Sporðalda Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 50 hm3 (41,000 acre⋅ft) |
| Surface area | 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) |
| Operator(s) | Landsvirkjun |
| Turbines | 2 x 47.5 MW (63,700 hp) Kaplan-type |
| Installed capacity | 95 MW |
| Annual generation | 585 GWh |
Búðarháls hydroelectric power plant (Icelandic: Búðarhálsstöð [ˈpuːðarˌhaulsˌstœːθ]) is the seventh largest power station of Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic national power company. It is located in the south of Iceland, around 150 km to the east of Reykjavík, in the Þjórsá and Tungnaá water catchment area, near the junction of the Kaldakvísl and Tungnaá rivers. It was officially opened on 7 March 2014.
This power plant is the newest of six hydroelectric plants (the others being Búrfell, Sultartangi, Hrauneyjafoss, Vatnsfell and Sigalda) in the Þjórsá-Tungnaá area, and it is able to produce 585 GWh annually with its installed capacity of 95 MW (2 x 47.5 MW). The created reservoir, Sporðalda in the southeast of the mountain, with a surface of 7 km2 and a total capacity of 50 hm³, is backed up by two embankment dams.
The Búðarháls power station is very important to the development of Iceland´s hydropower plants, since it connects all power plants on this river, which allows Iceland to use the whole river from top to bottom to its fullest, in order to make it unnecessary to destroy and dam other rivers instead.