El Quimbo Dam
| El Quimbo Dam | |
|---|---|
El Quimbo Dam located in the municipality and town of Gigante, Huila in the Huila Department of Colombia
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| Official name | El Quimbo Dam |
| Coordinates | 1°30′0″N 76°35′0″W / 1.50000°N 76.58333°WCoordinates: 1°30′0″N 76°35′0″W / 1.50000°N 76.58333°W |
| Construction began | February 2011 |
| Opening date | 2015 |
| Construction cost | US$ 837 million |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Magdalena River |
| Height | 151-metre (495 ft) |
| Length | 632-metre (2,073 ft) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Hydropower |
| Total capacity | 1,824×106 m3 (1,479,000 acre·ft) |
| Surface area | 82.5 km2 (31.9 sq mi) |
| Power station | |
| Installed capacity | 400 MW (540,000 hp) (max. planned) |
| Annual generation | 2,216 GWh (7,980 TJ) |
| Hydropower plant | |
The El Quimbo Dam is a concrete faced rock-fill dam (CFRD) and hydroelectric power project under development in the Huila Department of southwestern-central Colombia, approximately 69 kilometres (43 mi) south of the city of Neiva, on the Magdalena River. It is located about 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) upstream from the confluence of the Páez River with the Magdalena River. Its works were officially opened on February 25, 2011 in the presence of President Juan Manuel Santos. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. The project is planned to be completed over a period of 4 years, in 2015.
The project will have a powerhouse near the base of the dam with an installed capacity of 400 MW, which is expected to achieve an average energy generation of 2,216 gigawatt-hours (7,980 TJ)/year, with a dam that will have a live storage of 1,824 million cubic metres (1,479,000 acre·ft) and an inundated area 8,250 hectares (20,400 acres). The objective is to enhance the energy security and stability of the Colombian electricity supply, meeting about 8% of energy demand in Colombia with energy prospects of 1,650 gigawatt-hours (5,900 TJ) to 2034.
Environmental license to implement the project was granted by Colombia's Environment Ministry, which was announced by Alvaro Uribe, the then President of Colombia, in May 2009. It is the first private sector hydro project to be built in Colombia under a new government policy. Apart from implementing the project, environmental issues that are to be addressed by the Emgesa, the project developer, are compensatory afforestation, compensation to project-affected people (no indigenous people are affected) and the protection of water supplies.
Emgesa will receive, under a 20-year power contract authorized by Colombia's Comision de Regulacion de Energia y Gas (CREG), a price of US$14 per megawatt-hour for the power sold to the department. It is also intended to sell the electricity to neighbouring countries, thus boosting the national economy. The project is estimated to cost around $837 million, invested by Spanish utility Endesa, through its Colombian subsidiary Emgesa.
The project is located in Colombia, in the Magdalena River basin formed by the central and eastern mountain ranges, to the south of department of Huila. It is bounded between the coordinates 1°30′00″N 76°35′00″W / 1.50000°N 76.58333°W and 2°30′00″N 75°35′00″W / 2.50000°N 75.58333°W. The administrative jurisdiction of the project covers the municipalities of Garzón, Gigante, El Agrado, Paicol, Tesalia and Altamira. However, the dam and the project's powerhouse are located within the municipality of Gigante. The existing Betania Dam is about 35 kilometres (22 mi) downstream. Bogotá, the capital of Colombia is 379 kilometres (235 mi) to the north. It is 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the south of Neiva, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Gigante and 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Garzón.
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