Iberdrola will begin to fill the Portugal reservoir, which will generate electricity from March 2024
The construction of the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Plant continues to progress at a good pace. The other two, Gouvães, an 880 MW pumping station, and Daivões, with 118 MW, have been in commercial operation since 2022.
The Alto Tâmega dam is completely finished. It is a large double curvature vault dam 104.5 m high, 220,000 m3 of concrete and 335 m long at the crest.
For construction and thermal reasons, the concreting of the dam has been carried out in 21 blocks, which in turn are divided into two-meter-high layers.. The entire concreting of the dam was carried out in less than two years and was completed at the end of 2022.
During this spring the injection of the construction joints of the dam has been carried out, once the concrete placed has cooled during the winter and the opening between the joints is greater. In this way, when the gaps between the blocks are filled, the dam acquires its monolithic character and it is possible to start filling.
During this month, the river diversion tunnel has been closed and in the next three months approximately a 28-meter-long concrete plug will be built inside the tunnel that will ensure the closure of the diversion tunnel throughout its useful life. of the installation. During these three months, the river flow will continue to flow through the bottom outlets of the dam.
From that moment on, the filling of the Alto Tâmega reservoir will begin, which will have a surface area of 468 ha and a volume of 132 hm3, and will provide the necessary water for the production of renewable electricity at the Alto Tâmega dam foot station. , equipped with two groups with a total power of 160 MW.
interdisciplinary team
The construction of this great dam, with its hydroelectric power station at the foot of the dam, culminates a great work of design and execution by a large interdisciplinary team from Iberdrola, which has been directly in charge of licensing, planning, engineering, construction supervision, commissioning in service, environmental issues, relations with affected entities of the Portuguese State, relations with local communities, execution of affected services and a wide etcetera, all of these issues are necessary to be able to build a facility of this magnitude on time and on time.
During the construction of the Alto Tâmega Hydroelectric Development, a peak of almost 1,000 workers was reached on the site.
Meanwhile, the electromechanical assembly of the plant continues, which is progressing smoothly according to schedule. The turbines of both groups are already fully assembled and the generators are in a very advanced state of assembly. Once the reservoir has been filled this winter, the first synchronization of a group to the grid is scheduled for January 2024 and the plant will come into commercial operation in March 2024.
The Tâmega hydroelectric complex is one of the largest energy initiatives in the history of Portugal, with a total investment of more than 1,500 million euros and an installed capacity of 1,158 MW, 880 of which are reversible.