Cerrón Grande Dam

Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam
Official name Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande
Location Chalatenango (El Salvador)
Coordinates 14°45′40″N 90°30′11″W / 14.76111°N 90.50306°W / 14.76111; -90.50306Coordinates: 14°45′40″N 90°30′11″W / 14.76111°N 90.50306°W / 14.76111; -90.50306
Opening date 1976
Operator(s) CEL
Dam and spillways
Impounds Lempa River
Height 90 m
Length 800 m
Reservoir
Creates Embalse Cerrón Grande
Total capacity 2,180 million m³
Surface area 135 km²
Official name Cerron Grande Reservoir
Designated November 22, 2005 [1]

The Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam (Spanish: Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande) spans the Lempa River 78 km north of San Salvador in the municipalities of Potonico, (Chalatenango) and Jutiapa (Cabañas) in El Salvador.

The concrete gravity dam has a height of 90 m and a length of 800 m. The dam's reservoir has a surface area of 135 km² and a capacity of 2,180 million m³.[2]

The hydroelectric power plant was fitted with 2 x 67.5 MWe Francis turbines with a total capacity of 135 Mwe. Major maintenance work carried out between 2003-2007 included replacing the turbines with 2 x 85 MWe units with a total capacity of 170 MWe, which generate 488 GWh per year.[2]

Cerrón Grande Lake

The Cerrón Grande reservoir (Spanish: Embalse Cerrón Grande), locally known as Suchitlán Lake, is the largest body of fresh water in El Salvador.[3][4] In 2005, the reservoir and approximately 470 km2 (180 sq mi) of adjacent area was listed as a "Wetland of International Importance" under the Ramsar Convention. The area provides a habitat for large numbers of waterbird, duck and fish species.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ramsar List". Ramsar.org. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande". Comisión Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa (CEL). Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  3. ↑ "Descripción de embalses de El Salvador" (pdf). Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA). 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  4. ↑ "Water Resources Assessment of El Salvador" (pdf). United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 1998. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  5. ↑ "The Annotated Ramsar List: El Salvador". Ramsar.org. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Ramsar Sites Database". Ramsar.org. Retrieved 14 April 2013.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 16, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.