Qorlortorsuaq Dam

Qorlortorsuaq Dam is a hydroelectric dam near Qorlortorsuaq in the Nanortalik district of the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. It has a capacity of 7.6 MW and it generates power for the neighbouring towns of Qaqortoq and Narsaq.

History
The construction of the power plant started in December 2003 and was completed in October 2007. It was built by consortium of E. Pihl & Son AS (51%), YIT (34%), and Landsvirkjun (15%). Landsvirkjun operates the power plant until 2012, when operation will be transferred to the Kujalleq municipality. The design and engineering was performed by Icelandic companies Verkís and Efla.

Description
Qorlortorsuaq Dam is a concrete gravity dam with height of 15 m and crest length of 80 m. It creates a reservoir with a capacity of 108 million cubic meters. Its tunnel length is 245 m and pressure pipe is 245 m. The flow rate is 3.9 m3/s.

The power plant has two horizontal axis 3.8 MW Francis turbines manufactured by Kössler for a total installed capacity of 7.6 MW. Its annual generation is 27.5 GWh. A crew of four maintains the power plant.

Together with the power plant a 70 km long high voltage (70 kV) line to Qaqortoq and Narsaq was erected. It crosses over the Igaliko Fjord, a more than 2 km long span, between these two pylons: 60.81245°N, -45.66161°W and 60.77796°N, -45.59529°W.

Green Power program
The hydropower plant is part of the plan of the Greenland Home Rule government to replace fossil fuelled energy production and storage with sustainable power production.