Brazeau Reservoir

Brazeau Reservoir is a large man made reservoir in Alberta, Canada.

Brazeau Reservoir
Brazeau Dam Power Plant
Brazeau Reservoir
LocationBrazeau County, Central Alberta
Coordinates52°56′53″N 115°38′21″W
Typeman-made reservoir
Primary inflowsBrazeau River
Primary outflowsBrazeau River
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length13 kilometres (8.1 mi)
Max. width6 kilometres (3.7 mi)

It is located in Brazeau County of central Alberta, 55 kilometres (34 mi) south-west of Drayton Valley.

It was developed along the Brazeau River, at the confluence with Elk River, in the hydrographic basin of the North Saskatchewan River.

Energy production

The dam and hydroelectric plant are managed by TransAlta. The plant has an electricity generating capacity of 355 megawatts (MW).[1] The Brazeau Plant is the largest hydroelectric plant owned by TransAlta.[1]

The hydrology of the Brazeau area allows it to produce an annual average of 397,000 megawatt hours (MW⋅h) of electric energy.[1] The annual output of the Brazeau Plant is slightly behind TransAlta's Bighorn Dam, with a smaller peak capacity of 120 MW but an available water supply that allows it to produce 408,000 MW⋅h each year.[2] In order to deal with the sometimes challenging water supply on the Brazeau, the plant includes a pump-back system capable of lifting water from the outflow below the dam back up to the 20 kilometres (12 mi) long reservoir, allowing the power plant to maintain capacity at low reservoir water levels.

Recreation

The Brazeau Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area is established near the lake,[3] upstream from the dam and another three campgrounds dot its shores[4]

  • The Spillway of the Brazeau Dam
  • The Brazeau Dam

See also
  • List of lakes in Alberta

References
  1. "Brazeau". www.transalta.com. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  2. "Bighorn". www.transalta.com. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  3. Alberta Tourism. "Brazeau Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area". Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  4. "Brazeau Reservoir". Brazeau County. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-05.


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