Dam · Turkey

How much did Keban hydroelectric project cost to build?

Keban Dam impounds the Euphrates near Elazığ in eastern Turkey. This cost question concerns the wider Keban hydroelectric development considered by the World Bank in 1968, not only the concrete and rockfill dam: the contemporary estimate included the powerhouse, generating equipment, transmission works, railway relocation, engineering and financing items. The Bank said an April 1966 plan was estimated at $337.7 million and that the likely final cost, including local expenditure, had risen to about $400 million by its October 1968 appraisal. Neither was an audited final outturn. Turkey's electricity generator EÜAŞ says the first four units entered service in 1974 and four more in 1982, bringing installed capacity to 1,330 MW. EÜAŞ gives a 210.86-metre dam height, 1,125.72-metre crest length and 29,408 million cubic metres of reservoir storage. The photograph was taken in 2004, long after construction.