Pinet (power station)

Pinet is a dam and hydroelectric power station on the River Tarn in Saint-Victor-et-Melvieu in Aveyron, southern France.

The dam was built in 1932, and the station has five Francis turbines generating 42.5MW. The dam is 175 m long and 41 m high.

The dam
The dam constructed in 1929 was regulated by 18 groups of sluices. These were replaced by three rising barriers, 6.2 x in dimension. These gave the dam capacity to cope with floods of up to 4,400 m3.

The lake
The dam raises the level of the Tarn by 40 m and the lake formed, the Lac de Pinet, is at an altitude of 320 m and has a surface area is 1.09 km2 It lies in the communes of Saint-Rome-de-Tarn, Viala-du-Tarn and Saint-Victor-et-Melvieu.

The turbine hall
The turbine hall is 500 m downstream from the dam. It contains five Francis turbines which generate 42.5 MW.