Vidraru Dam
The Vidraru dam
Location	Argeș River, Argeș County Romania
Coordinates	45°21′58.5″N 24°37′47.28″E / 45.366250°N 24.6298000°E / 45.366250; 24.6298000
Construction began	1960
Opening date	1966
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Argeș River
Height	166 m (545 ft)
Length	305 m (1,001 ft)[1]
Dam volume	480,000 m3 (630,000 cu yd)
Reservoir
Creates	Lake Vidraru
Total capacity	0.465 km3 (0.112 cu mi)
Catchment area	286 km2 (110 sq mi)
Surface area	10 km2 (3.9 sq mi)
Power Station
Commission date	9 December 1966
Turbines	4 x 55 MW Francis-type
Installed capacity	220 MW
Annual generation	400 GWh

Vidraru Dam is a dam in Romania. It was completed in 1966 on the Argeș River and creates Lake Vidraru. The arch dam was built with the primary purpose to produce hydroelectricity. The dam's height is 166 metres, the arch length 305 meters and it can store 465 million cubic metres of water. The reservoir has a total shoreline (perimeter) length of 28 km.

Situated between Frunții Mountains and Ghițu mountains, the lake collects the Capra, Buda, and some other smaller rivers (Râul Doamnei, Cernatu, Vâlsan, Topolog, Valea lui Stan, and Limpedea), with a total flow of about 5.5 million L/s. The total surface of the lake is 3,930,000 sq m, 10.3 km in length, with a maximum width of 2.2 km in the Valea Lupului – Călugărița zone. Normal level or water retention is 830 metres above sea level (mdM).

The dam's construction took 5 and a half years. It required 42 km of tunnels, excavation of 1,768,000 cubic metres of hard rocks, out of which approximatively 1 million had to be extracted from underground, 930,000 cubic metres of concrete, out of which 400,000 cubic metres were underground and required the installation of 6,300 tons of electro-mechanical equipment.

When completed, it ranked 5th in Europe, and 9th in the world. In an average hydrological year it can generate approximately of 400 GWh/year. As of 2019, Vidraru Dam is the 16th tallest dam in Europe.

The Vidraru Hydro Power Plant has an installed capacity of 220 MW.

• Energy in Romania

Vidraru Lake and Dam, 2012-07-01

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vidraru Dam.

• dams.go.ro Archived 2004-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
• BARAJUL-VIDRARU