Beles Multipurpose Project, Ethiopia

Built in Ethiopia between 2005 and 2010, the Beles Multipurpose Project is an underground hydroelectric power plant located in the Amhara regional state, about 50 km northwest of Bahir Dar.

The plant, which uses water from Lake Tana, includes the headrace tunnel that channels water from the lake to the pressure shaft, the underground powerhouse that houses four Francis turbine-generator units—each with a capacity of generating 115 MW—and the tailrace tunnel that discharges water into the Beles River. Both tunnels were excavated using TBM (Tunnel Boring Machines).

Approximately 4,000 people from 34 different countries worked on the construction of this massive plant.

The main surface components of the project include the approach channel, the inlet structure, the intake, the 40 kV switchyard, the outlet structure, and the regulating weirs.