The Infiernillo Dam ("Little hell"), also known as

Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Lóp ...

Dam, is an

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

on the

Balsas River The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River, or Atoyac River) is a major river of south-central Mexico. The basin flows through the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla. Downstream of Ciudad Al ...

near La Unión, Guerrero, Mexico. It is on the border between the states of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Guerrero, 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acap ...

and

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

. The dam supports a hydroelectric power station containing six turbine-generators for a total installed capacity of 1,120 MW. The dam is high, long and is owned by

Comisión Federal de Electricidad The Comisión Federal de Electricidad ( en, Federal Electricity Commission) is the state-owned electric utility of Mexico, widely known as CFE. It is the country's dominant electric company, and the country's second most powerful state-owned comp ...

. Its first generator was operational on January 25, 1965. Placement of the dam embankment began in August 1962, and on December 7, 1963, the dam was topped off. The diversion tunnels were closed and the reservoir began to fill on June 15, 1964.

References

{{stack, {{Portal, Mexico, Water, Renewable energy Dams in Mexico Hydroelectric power stations in Mexico Embankment dams Dams completed in 1963 Balsas River