It is located 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Liginiac in Corrèze department, France.

Its primary purpose is the generation of hydroelectricity and the original power station contained four Francis turbine-generators.

The dam and its power plant was built to help France become less dependent on costly energy resource imports after World War I.

[5] The fifth Francis turbine-generator, rated at 122 MW, at the Saint Pierre power station, on the left bank of the river, was commissioned in 1988.

[6] The dam, designed by André Coyne, incorporated several innovative features to include a ski-jump spillway, the right abutment anchored with a prestressed cables and monitored with vibrating wire sensors (emitting an audible signals like a guitar), and a new cofferdam design.