The Caruachi Dam is a concrete

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

dam on the

Caroní River The Caroní River is the second most important river of Venezuela, the second in flow, and one of the longest, from the Kukenan tepui through to its confluence with the Orinoco River. The name "Caroní" is applied starting from the confluenc ...

in Bolivar state,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. It supports a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power facility with a capacity. It is about downstream from the

Guri Dam The Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant, also Guri Dam ( or ''Represa de Guri''), previously known as the Raúl Leoni Hydroelectric Plant, is a concrete gravity and embankment dam in Bolívar State, Venezuela, on the Caroni River, built from 19 ...

belonging to the Central Hidroeléctrica Simón Bolívar, and about from where the Caroni and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

rivers meet at

Ciudad Guayana Ciudad Guayana () (English: Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...

.Official site of EDELCA and the Caruachi Project
, published 2007, accessed 2007-11-23

The dam

The first of the Kaplan turbine-generators

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

supplied for the project began commercial operation in April 2003; the 12th and final unit entered service on February 28, 2006, and entered into formal/fully commercial operation on 31 March 2006, when the project was officially inaugurated. The total installed capacity is 2,160 MW and the power plant will produce about 12 TW·h annually. This project is formed jointly with the Central Hidroeléctrica Simón Bolívar in Guri, Antonio José de Sucre in Macagua and Manuel Piar in Tocoma (under construction), the development of Lower

resources and one of the world's largest hydro projects now in construction, that, when completed, EDELCA (Electrificación del Caroní CA) claims will save Venezuela the equivalent of 750,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to 300,000 currently.

Design and construction

The contract for the design, supply and installation of the main electro-mechanical equipment was awarded to a consortium of Kvaerner of Norway,

GE Energy GE Power (formerly known as GE Energy) was an American energy technology company owned by General Electric (GE). In April 2024, GE completed the spin-off of GE Power into a separate company, GE Vernova. Following this, General Electric ceased t ...

of the US, and Elin Transformatoren GmbH of Austria. Major work began on the project in 1998. Following GE's acquisition of Kvaerner's hydro business in 1999, over 90% of the Caruachi contract was carried out by GE Hydro, including all aspects of the design, supply and installation of the turbines, generators, governors, exciters and cranes. A total of 12 Kaplan turbine-generator units, each capable of a power output of 180 MW, were supplied to the project. ABB of Switzerland won three contracts to provide the power transmission system for the project. A 400 kV substation and four related 400 kV

transmission line In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmis ...

s connect the plant with the country's transmission network. Alstom Power was awarded the contract for distributed control system and SCADA, and small electrical auxiliaries like UPS equipments and DC distribution boards. The original GE Hydro and Elin contracts were, through several mergers and acquisitions, transferred to the 2005-created

Andritz Hydro Andritz AG is an international technology group, offering plants, equipment, systems and services for various industries. The group's headquarters are in Graz, Austria. The group gets its name from the district of Andritz (Graz), Andritz in whi ...

of Austria. While the original Alstom contract was in 2014 inherited by a new

GE Renewable Energy GE Renewable Energy was a manufacturing and services division of the American company General Electric. It is headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France and focuses on the production of energy systems that use renewable sources. It ...

entity.

Features

A main concrete

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...

has a maximum height of from its foundations, with an integrated intake structure and powerhouse. A 900 m right-abutment rockfill closure dam has a concrete slab face and a maximum height of 50 m, and a 4,200 m left-abutment earth and rockfill closure dam has a maximum height of 45 m. A

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

with nine spans and radial surface gates has an aggregate flow capacity. A powerhouse is integrated with the main dam with space for 12 generating units (360 m) and an assembly bay of . Two transition dams have a intermediate buttress between the powerhouse and spillway. The reservoir has a normal operating elevation of above sea level.

References

External links

Official site of ''EDELCA'' and the Caruachi Project

''Caruachi Hydroelectric Power Plant, Venezuela'' from the Web Site of the Power Industry
{{Caroní River dams Dams completed in 2006 Energy infrastructure completed in 2006 Dams in Venezuela Hydroelectric power stations in Venezuela Gravity dams Buildings and structures in Bolívar (state)

The dam

Design and construction

Features

See also

References

External links