The Las Vacas Dam (Spanish: Planta Hidroeléctrica Río Las Vacas) is a reinforced concrete gravity dam and power plant spanning the Las Vacas River near the village of San Antonio Las Flores in the municipality Chinautla, Guatemala.
| Las Vacas Dam | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Planta Hidroeléctrica Río Las Vacas (HRLV) |
| Location | Chinautla (Guatemala) |
| Coordinates | 14°45′40″N 90°30′11″W / 14.76111°N 90.50306°W |
| Construction began | 1998 |
| Opening date | May 2002 May 2003 - second fase |
| Operator(s) | Hidroelectrica Rio Las Vacas, S.A |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Las Vacas River |
| Height | 17 m |
| Length | 136 m |
| Reservoir | |
| Total capacity | 258,969 m³ |
The hydroelectric power plant is designed as a peaking plant and the water stored in its 258,969 m³ reservoir is used to generate electricity during hours of peak demand. It has 5 Pelton turbines with a total installed capacity of 45 MWe which generate an average of 120 GWh of electricity per year.[1][2]
The plant includes facilities for collecting and recycling plastic waste material found in the reservoir.[3][4]
The Las Vacas project was built by a conglomerate of 4 private sector companies: Cementos Progreso, Fabrigas, Comegsa, and Iberdrola, which are partners in Hidroeléctrica Río Las Vacas, S.A.[1]
History
editIn January 2003, the operators of the dam were found to be responsible for a major industrial waste spill into the Las Vacas River, which subsequently also polluted the Motagua River, leading to the temporary closure of the hydroelectric power station.[5]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b :"Las Vacas River Hydroelectric Power Plant, HRLV -Guatemala" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-02-23.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Comments on Las Vacas Large Hydro Project (Guatemala)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "Nuestra contribution al ambiente". Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ Greenstream Network Oy y BUN-CA (2007). Guía Centroamericana de Financiamiento de Carbono (PDF) (2 ed.).
- ^ "Verschmutzung des Motagua-Flusses" (PDF). Fijáte (in German). Verein ¡Fijáte!. 15 January 2003. Retrieved 11 May 2023.