THE LARGEST LAKE IN THE COUNTRY IS CREATED, AND THE 400MW POWER STATION WILL SUPPLY 8% OF THE NATION'S ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

July 1, 2015 - Salini Impregilo has successfully completed the "El Quimbo" hydroelectric complex reservoir works in the Colombian region of Huila, 250 km south-west of the capital of the South American country. The structure includes a main dam, a secondary dam and a 400 MW power station and the contract value is 450 million euros.

The reservoir operations, successfully carried out by the engineers of the group, leaders of the water industry, is a vital component of Colombia's infrastructures because it will create a 55-km-long reservoir of over 8 thousand hectares filled by the nation's major river, the Magdalena. The electricity generated by El Quimbo will be able to cover about 8% of the country's energy requirements and the sale abroad of the energy produced is also foreseen.

The new artificial basin will be the largest in Colombia, with a surface comparable to that of Lake Iseo or equal to one and a half times the province of Rome. The "El Quimbo" hydroelectric project lies in the heart of the Andes, between the Central and Western ranges, where the Magdalena River merges with the Paez River. The smaller dam is 66 metres tall and 400 metres long. The main dam is 160 metres tall, 700 metres long at the crest level and has a reinforced concrete surface of 80,000 square metres. Its size places the main dam - taller than Palazzo Lombardia in Milan, one of Italy's tallest skyscrapers - amongst the most important of the entire South American continent.

The construction of El Quimbo, owned by Emgesa (Enel group), will lead to the doubling of the energy production of the plant that the Group built in the mid-1980s in Betania, a little further downstream along the Magdalena, also owned by Emgesa.

More than 2,300 people worked on the maxi hydroelectric project that was completed on time to meet the contractual deadline. Among other things, they built four tunnels 10 metres in diameter and 400 metres long each, excavated 5 million cubic metres, filled in 13 million cubic metres and built concrete works totalling 250 thousand cubic metres. Some of the most advanced solutions to protect the environment and to redevelop an area of large agricultural development were implemented at the plant.

The Salini Impregilo Group has been working for decades in Colombia building roads and hydroelectric plants. It completed the 820 MW hydroelectric project on the Sogamoso River, 40 km from Bucaramanga in the north-western region of Santander, in early 2015 for the local client Isagen.