Bandak

Bandak is a lake in the municipalities of Kviteseid and Tokke in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The lake, which is part of the Telemark Canal route, belongs to the Skien watershed. The river Tokke flows into the lake, and the outlet is via the river Straumane, which flows to the lake Kviteseidvatn.[2]

View of the lake

Bandak
Bandak lake about 1890 Credit: Axel Lindahl
Bandak Location of the lake Show map of Vestfold og Telemark Bandak Bandak (Norway) Show map of Norway
Location	Tokke and Kviteseid, Vestfold og Telemark
Coordinates	59.43865°N 8.03582°E / 59.43865; 8.03582
Primary inflows	Tokke
Primary outflows	Straumane
Catchment area	2,554 km2 (986 sq mi)
Basin countries	Norway
Max. length	27 kilometres (17 mi)
Max. width	1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi)
Surface area	26.77 km2 (10.34 sq mi)
Average depth	118.4 m (388 ft)
Max. depth	325 m (1,066 ft)
Water volume	3.17 km3 (2,570,000 acre⋅ft)
Shore length1	60 kilometres (37 mi)
Surface elevation	72 metres (236 ft)
References	NVE[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The lake has an area of 26.8 square kilometres (10.3 sq mi). The average depth is of the lake is 121 metres (397 ft) which is about 50 metres (160 ft) below sea level. The deepest part of the lake reaches 325 metres (1,066 ft) which makes it the eighth deepest lake in Norway. The 27-kilometre (17 mi) long lake measures about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) at the widest. The catchment area for the lake is about 2,554 square kilometres (986 sq mi).[1][2]

The Tokke Hydroelectric Power Station utilizes the hydraulic head from the nearby lake Vinjevatn to Bandak of about 394 metres (1,293 ft) to generate electricity. It is one of northern Europe's largest power plants with a production of some 430 megawatts (580,000 hp). The plant produces an average annual production of 2,140 gigawatt-hours (7,700 TJ).[3]