Thesauros and Platanovrisi dams

Despite the general knowledge and photographs of corresponding works, the image of the dams of Drama creates feelings of awe. Awe at the scale of intervention in the landscape and the new relationship created between pristine nature and gigantic human constructions. Awe, also, for an intervention that “tames” the river. The elevation difference between the average water level before and after the Treasure Dam is on the order of 250 m, while the flooded sections extend for 50 km. We realize the human energy required to build and operate these infrastructures that support the production system and the standard of living in the surrounding areas.
The dams are located in the northeast of Paranesti, where there is also road access. The Treasure Dam is a tall earthen dam with an impermeable clay core, it began operation in 1997. Its height reaches 175 m, which makes it one of the highest geodams in Europe.
The dam of Platanovrisi has been built about 7.5 km (as the crow flies – about 12 road kilometers) southeast of Thesauros. It is a concrete dam and started operating in 1999. The artificial lake that is created holds a quantity of water of the order of 90,000,000 m2.
The two dams work complementary as a single system. Specifically, in addition to the possibility of reusing the water released from the Thesauros dam, there is the possibility of pumping water from the artificial lake of Platanovrisi to that of Thesauros, a process that is usually repeated every 24 hours, during the night. The total power generation capacity of the dams reaches 500 MW. For the efficient operation of the dams, there has been an interstate agreement with the Bulgarian side, which undertook the obligation to allow the drainage of at least 29% of the river’s waters into Greek territory.