| Baath Dam | |
| Name Official: | سد البعث |
| Dam Crosses: | Euphrates |
| Res Name: | Baath Dam Reservoir |
| Location: | Raqqa Governorate, Syria |
| Dam Height: | 140NaN0 |
| Construction Began: | 1983 |
| Opening: | 1986 |
| Res Capacity Total: | 0.092NaN2 |
| Plant Capacity: | 81 MW |
| Location Map: | Syria |
The Baath Dam (Arabic: سد البعث|lit=Dam of the Renaissance, Kurdish: Bendava Baas, Classical Syriac: ܣܟܪܐ ܕܒܥܬ|Sekro d'Ba'ath) is a dam on the Euphrates, located upstream from the city of Raqqa in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Construction of the dam started in 1983 and was finished in 1986. It is intended to generate hydroelectric power as well as regulate the irregular flow from the Tabqa Dam, which is located upstream from the Baath Dam. These irregularities in the flow from the Tabqa Dam are caused by changes in the electricity demand. The Baath Dam is 14m (46feet) high and the installed water turbines can generate 81 MW. The storage capacity of the Baath Dam Reservoir is .
The Baath Dam is one of three dams on the Syrian Euphrates, the other two being the Tabqa Dam, and the Tishrin Dam south of the Syria-Turkish border. Like the Baath Dam, the Tishrin Dam is also functionally related to the Tabqa Dam. Construction of the Tishrin Dam was partly motivated by the disappointing performance of the hydroelectric power station in the Tabqa Dam. Before the Syrian Civil War, Syria had plans to construct a fourth dam – the Halabiye Dam – on the Euphrates, downstream from the Baath Dam. The dam is named after the Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.[1]
On 4 February 2013, opposition forces captured the dam, a week before capturing the Tabqa Dam.[2] [3] The Baath Dam was captured from the ISIL by the Syrian Democratic Forces on 4 June 2017. Upon doing so, they renamed it the "Freedom Dam" (Kurdish: Bendava Azadî; Arabic: سد الحرية; Classical Syriac: ܣܟܪܐ ܕܚܐܪܘܬܐ|Sekro d'Ḥirutho).[4] ISIL used the complex as a prison.[5] In 2019, control of the dam was given to the Syrian government after the Turkish invasion of Northern Syria.[1]