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High Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser

Dam and hydroelectric scheme, 162 km3 gross reservoir storage; 2,100 MW in Egypt.

Operational

Landmark The dam that ended the Nile flood, and still the single control point for Egypt's whole water year.

The record

Country
Egypt
Location
Aswan
Coordinates
23.971, 32.879
Technology
Dam and hydroelectric scheme
Capacity
162 km3 gross reservoir storage; 2,100 MW
Capital cost
US$1 billion
Stage
Operational
Owner or client
Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
Contractor
—
Operator
—
Finance
Government
Award or start year
1970
Commissioned
1970

Record last checked 2026-09-18.

History

Sources

6 references

Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.

  1. FAO AQUASTAT regional dam inventory (Africa), as carried in the site's own dam register: High Aswan dam on the Nile, completed 1970, 111 m high, 162,000 million m3 of reservoir capacity, at 23.971 N 32.879 E. ILEC World Lake Database, Aswan High Dam Reservoir. wldb.ilec.or.jp.
  2. Total reservoir capacity 162 km3, made up of dead storage 31.6 km3, active storage 90.7 km3 and emergency flood storage 41 km3; surface area 6,000 km2; maximum depth 110 m; catchment 2,849,000 km2; reservoir extends 500 km, two thirds in Egypt as Lake Nasser and one third in Sudan as Lake Nubia; dam body given as 2,325 m long, 40 m wide at the crest and 980 m at the base; dam dated to 1968 and sited 7 km south of Aswan.
  3. Power Technology, Aswan High Dam. power-technology.com.
  4. 12 Francis turbines and installed capacity 2,100 MW; construction from 1960; design by the Hydroproject Institute of Russia with Egyptian engineers; reservoir given as 132 km3 and irrigated area about 33,600 km2 (bot-walled to curl, read via fetch).
  5. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Aswan High Dam. britannica.com.
  6. MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.

cited only for the construction cost of about US$1 billion, which no primary source in this pass published; also gives 1970 completion, formal inauguration January 1971, crest length 3,830 m and a gross Lake Nasser capacity of 169 billion m3, higher than the 162 km3 used here (bot-walled to curl, read in a browser).