Los Caracoles

San Juan, Argentina

The hydroelectric complex has upgraded the province's power grid and increased its irrigation capacity, as well as driving tourism.

  • 715 GWh

    average annual power output.

  • 2,800

    workers at peak construction.

  • 2

    turbogenerators of 66 MW each.

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Los Caracoles Hydroelectric Dam

The plant supplies 40% of the energy demand in the province of San Juan.

Key facts

  • 2004

    Start date

  • 2.2 million

    m3 of rocky materials removed

  • 10.6 million

    m3 of dam fill

  • 2,800 workers

    at peak construction

  • USD 250 million

    contract amount

  • 136 meters

    dam height

  • 2004

    Start date

  • 2.2 million

    m3 of rocky materials removed

  • 10.6 million

    m3 of dam fill

  • 2,800 workers

    at peak construction

  • USD 250 million

    contract amount

  • 136 meters

    dam height

Customer Energía Provincial Sociedad del Estado (EPSE)
Scope of work EPC

Segment

Energy

The project at Los Caracoles involved building a concrete-faced rock-fill dam with a volume of 10,350,000 m3 of compacted fill, to form a reservoir with a capacity of 565 hm3 and a surface area of 1,300 hectares. The dam rises 136 meters above the riverbed, and the crest is 620 meters long. The difference in height between the reservoir’s normal maximum level and the restitution channel to the river is 160 meters.

During the construction of the dam, the river was diverted along a 675 meter-long channel dug into the right-hand slope. The execution of the mouth and outlet works of the tunnels required large open-pit excavations on the mountain slopes involving earthworks to move over 2.2 million m3 of rocky materials.

The work was carried out together with Panedile, the construction company with the most dams and hydroelectric plants to its name in Argentina.

Location

The province of San Juan is located in a semi-desert region in northwest Argentina. Its rocky, irregular landforms stretch out from the foothills of the Andes to the Sierras Pampeanas, the structural relief running parallel to the Andes. As much as 80% of the province is mountainous, arid terrain.

  • San Juan

    Province

  • -31.519125

    Latitude

  • -68.981593

    Lomngitude

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