| Brazeau Reservoir | |
|---|---|
 Brazeau Dam Power Plant | |
  Brazeau Reservoir | |
| Location | Brazeau County,Central Alberta |
| Coordinates | 52°56′53″N115°38′21″W / 52.94806°N 115.63917°W /52.94806; -115.63917 (Brazeau Reservoir) |
| Type | man-madereservoir |
| Primary inflows | Brazeau River |
| Primary outflows | Brazeau River |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) |
| Max. width | 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) |
Brazeau Reservoir is a large man-madereservoir inAlberta, Canada. It is inBrazeau County ofcentral Alberta, 55 kilometres (34 mi) southwest ofDrayton Valley. It was developed along theBrazeau River, at the confluence withElk River, in the hydrographic basin of theNorth Saskatchewan River.
Construction of the dam began around 1960 and was completed in 1963. The first generating unit was installed at the power plant in 1965, adding 355 MW of generating capacity to the Calgary Power System.[1]
The dam andhydroelectric plant are managed byTransAlta. The plant has an electricity generating capacity of 355megawatts (MW).[2] The Brazeau Plant is the largest hydroelectric plant owned by TransAlta.[2]
Thehydrology of the Brazeau area allows it to produce an annual average of 397,000megawatt-hours (MW⋅h) of electric energy.[2] The annual output of the Brazeau Plant is slightly behind TransAlta'sBighorn 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.[3] In order to deal with the sometimes challenging water supply on the Brazeau, the plant includes apump-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.
The Brazeau Reservoir Provincial Recreation Area is established near the lake,[4] upstream from the dam, and another three campgrounds dot its shores.[5]
| Rivers |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Waterfalls | ||
| Lakes | ||
| Reservoirs | ||
| Glaciers | ||
| Other | ||
 | ThisCentral Alberta location article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
