Azad Dam

Azad Dam (Persian: سد آزاد) is an embankment dam on the Gura River, 40 km west of Sanandaj in Kordestan province, Iran. It is situated in Kurdistan Province and its construction is part of a water management plan for Kurdistan Province. It has an installed electricity generating capacity of 10 MW and future pumped storage power plant with a regenerating capacity of 500 MW.

The pumped storage power plant is to be connected to the dam via a 1600 m tunnel of which 110 m was built by June 2010. The dam with a length of 595 m and a height of 115 m, has a maximum storage capacity of 260000000 m3 of water. A 175 km canal connecting the dam with towns of Qarveh and Dehlegan will annually supply over 0.25 km3 of water for agricultural purposes to these towns. As the water table of these towns have gone down by over 18 m due to the excessive use of underground water for crop cultivation, the construction of this dam will help to conserve the underground water sources of the area. One village had to be relocated due to construction of the dam and another new village has been built near the body of the dam. It is estimated that Azad dam will yearly produce approximately 95 GWh of electricity. The dam was operational in 2014.