SEAWATER PUMPED-STORAGE POWER-PLANT IN OKINAWA ISLAND, JAPAN

The authors describe the characteristics, problems and treatment of a seawater pumped-storage power plant which is the first high headtype power plant in the world. The authors propose a general geologic investigation program using boreholes for underground projects. The effectiveness of the investigations conducted by EPDC are evaluated before construction of the vertical shaft of the seawater pumped-storage power plant in Okinawa island, Japan. In the investigation stage of the project, no adit was excavated and all geological and geotechnical information about the underground facilities were obtained efficiently from exploration by drill holes including logging and geotechnical tests such as observation by borehole scanner, prospecting by VSP, initial stress measurement by sleeve fracturing method and JFT test.