Lake Vidraru () is an artificial lake in Romania. It was created in 1965 by the construction of the Vidraru Dam on the Argeș River.
It lies in the shadow of the Făgăraș Mountains. A village lies submerged at the bottom of this lake.
Vidraru Lake is a reservoir lake created in 1965 on the Arges River for Hydroelectricity production. It has 465 million cubic metres of water, with a length of and a width of , accumulating a total area of <!-- 893 ha ?--> and maximum depth of . Its circumferences is about .
<!-- Maximum water depth is 155 m high curved dam near 166 m with a length of 307 metres crown. Water volume is 465 million m³. The normal retention is 830.00 metres above sea level (mdM). -->
An underground power station is situated in proximity of the lake, deep under the Cetatuia massif. Its annual energy production in an average hydrological year. The installed turbine capacity is .
thumb|left
On the right bank, on Plesa mount, one can find the statue 'Energia', representing Prometheus with lightnings in his hand, symbolising electricity.
Situated between the mountains of and at the exit of the Ghitu massif, the lake is alimented by the rivers Capra, Buda and several direct tributaries (River Lady, and Valsan Cernatul, Valea lui Stan and clear), with a total average alimentation flow of .
<!-- original sentence :
On completion it was located, measured in height, approximately the 8th place in Europe and ranked 20th in the world. -->
The construction of the Vidraru dam took five and a half years starting in 1960. For this achievement, it took 42 km of tunnel excavation through 1.768 million m3 of rock, of which about 1 million underground bands have 930,000 m3 of concrete of which 400,000 m3 underground and also were installed 6300 tonnes of electromechanical equipment.
On Lake Vidraru, people can practice the extreme sport of bungee jumping. Only a few hundred metres of the dam tourists can go to the House Argeseana “and the pier where the practice of leisure boat racing.
The only road to access the lake Vidraru is the spectacular Transfagarasan (DN7C), running from Curtea de Arges to Cartisoara, and passing in front of the hydro power plant, on the Vidraru dam, and around Vidraru Lake.
See also
- Lakes of Romania