Colombian hydroelectric plant completion
By Chris Sleight03 July 2015
Salini Impregilo has completed the El Quimbo hydroelectric project in Huila, Colombia. The structure includes a main dam, a secondary dam and a 400 MW power station and the contract value was € 450 million (US$ 495 million).
The reservoir created at the site some 250 km from the capital Bogota, will be 55 km long and cover 80 km2. The electrical generation capacity of El Quimbo is said to be equivalent to 8% of Colombia’s demand.
The complex comprises two dams, a smaller 66 m high, 400 m long structure and the main 160 m tall, 700 m long dam. This has a reinforced concrete surface of some 80,000 m2. Other key structures include four 10 m diameter tunnels, each of which is 400 m long. Total excavation on the project came to 5 million m3, while the fill quantity was 13 million m3 along with some 250,000 m3 of concrete. More than 2,300 people worked on the scheme.
Earlier this year Salini Impregilo completed another major hydroelectric scheme in Colombia, the 820 MW facility on the Sogamoso River.
