Comansas on hydro electric plant

Ibergru, Linden Comansa distributor in Portugal, has supplied 15 flat top tower cranes for the Baixo Sabor hydro electric plant project in Torre de Moncorvo.

The main contractor for the site is Energias de Portugal (EDP), the largest electric utility company in the country.

Two dams are being built at the site, the main one upstream of the Sabor River, while the second is 9.5 kilometres downstream. The main plant will have a double-curvature dam 123 metres high and 505 m wide. The second plant, close to the river’s mouth, will have a dam 45 m high and 315 m wide.

On completion the dam, which has been under construction since 2008, will have an installed capacity of 170 MW and will be capable of generating up to 444 GWh a year. Together the dams will flood an area of more than 50 square km.

Around 1.1 million cubic metres of concrete will be used and about 3 million cubic metres of the site will be excavated. Main contractor is Baixo Sabor ACE, formed by Odebrecht / Bento Pedroso Construções and Lena Construções. The budget for the project is estimated at more than Euro 480 million (US$ 643 million).

The 15 tower cranes are at different sites. At the main plant, there are four 10LC140s with 8 tonnes capacity. The five largest tower cranes, including two 21LC750s with up to 48 tonnes capacity, and three 18 tonne capacity 21LC550s, are working on the second dam. Another 5LC5010, with a maximum load of 5 tonnes, is working as service crane, helping to manage the machinery and materials required on the site.