Stânca-Costești Dam

The Stânca–Costești Dam (Romanian: Barajul Stânca–Costești) is a dam on the Prut River and a checkpoint between Moldova and Romania. The dam is located between Costești (Moldova) and Stânca (Romania).

Stânca-Costeşti Dam
Location of Stânca-Costeşti Dam in Moldova
Official name	Barajul Stânca-Costești
Location	Costești (Moldova) / Stânca (Romania)
Coordinates	47°51′30″N 27°15′31″E
Construction began	1974
Opening date	5 November 1978
Owner(s)	C.N. Apele Române S.A.
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Prut
Height	43 m (141 ft)
Length	300 m (980 ft)[1]
Reservoir
Creates	Stânca-Costești Lake
Total capacity	1.29 km3 (1,050,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area	12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi)
Surface area	77 km2 (30 sq mi)
Power Station
Turbines	2 × 16 MW[2]
Installed capacity	Moldova: 16 MW Romania: 16 MW

History

Ion Iliescu and Ivan Bodiul at the opening of the Stânca-Costești Hydroelectrical Plant in 1978

The basic Romanian-Soviet agreement on its construction was ratified in 1972. Built between 1974 and 1978, the Stânca Costești Lake was a USSR-Romanian project. The lake is the reservoir for a hydro power station. The main goal of building this power station was to protect villages down the Prut river from annual floods. The 1970 floods in Romania were the worst in modern Romanian history in loss of life.

On 5 November 1978 the Stânca-Costești Hydroelectrical Plant on the Prut was inaugurated. Romania was represented by Ion Iliescu, the then-Minister of Electric Power Trandafir Cocîrlă, and Chairman Florin Iorgulescu of the Romanian National Council for Water Conservation, while Ivan Bodiul, Minister of Power and Electrification Peter Stepanovich Neporozhny, and Deputy Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Conservation Polat Zade represented the USSR.^[3]