Colombian hydroelectric plant completion

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.