Guri (Simón Bolívar)
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| Guri (Simón Bolívar) | |
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| Locale | Necuima Canyon, Bolívar |
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| Length | 1,300 m |
| Height | 162 m |
| Construction began | 1963 |
| Opening date | 1978 |
| Geographical Data | |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
The Guri Dam is one of the largest in the world. It is located in Bolívar State, Venezuela in the Caroni River. Its official name is Central Hidroeléctrica Simón Bolívar (previously named Central Hidroeléctrica Raúl Leoni from 1978 to 2000). It is 1300 meters long and 162 m high. The construction started in 1963 with the first part concluding in 1978 and the second one in 1986.
It has long been the focus of much controversy, as the lake created by the dam forever destroyed thousands of square miles of forest formerly renowned for its biodiversity and rare wildlife, including the only place where the recently-discovered Carrizal Seedeater (a finch-like tanager) was ever found.
There are two machine rooms with ten generators each producing a total of 87 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and saves 300000 barrels of oil a day. The walls in room number two were decorated by the kinetic Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Díez.
The Hydroelectric Power station Guri, was constructed in the Necuima Canyon, 100 kilometers waters above of the mouth of the Caroní River in the Orinoco. The development of Guri in his first stage began in 1963 and was finalized in 1978 with a capacity of 2,065 megawatts in 10 units and with the dam to a maximum level of 215 meters above the level of the sea. The final stage of the dam of Guri concluded in 1986 and allowed to elevate the level of the dam to the maximum level of 272 m a.s.l., being constructed the second power plant that houses 10 units of 630 MW each. At the present Guri moments occupies the second place in hydroelectric plants in the World, with his 10,200 MW of installed capacity total. As far as the Guri dam one is in eighth place between the ten of greater volume of water dammed in the World.
Since 2000, there is an on-going Refurbishment Project on Guri Power Plant with the goal to extend for 30 years the operation of Guri: according to this project Guri have 5 new runners and main components on Powerhouse II and close to the end of 2007, is starting the rehabilitation of four units on Powerhouse I.
Every rainy season on Venezuela, it's possible to see an amazing show when the spillways are open because Guri Lake level is close to 272.00 m a.s.l.
Thanks to the Guri Dam and the government policy commenced in the 1960s to produce as least energy from fossil fuels to be able to export the most oil, makes Venezuela a nation where 82% of its electricity comes from renewable energy like hydroelectric. There are other dams across Venezuela serving local needs.
