Pichi Picún Leufú Dam
Encyclopedia
The Pichi Picún Leufú Dam (in Spanish Embalse Pichi Picún Leufú) is the third of five dam
s on the Limay River
in northwestern Argentine
Patagonia
(the Comahue
region), near the town of Piedra del Águila, Neuquén, at 40°40′S 69°59′W.
The dam is used for the generation of hydroelectricity
and for the regulation of the flow. It measures 45 m in height and 1,045 m in length, and is made of 1,562,000 m³ of loose materials. It was built by the Sweden-based multinational Skanska
, and inaugurated in 2000.
The reservoir has an area of 19 km² and a volume of 197 million m³ in maximum normal conditions.
The hydroelectric plant has an installed power of 261 MW
and generates an annual average of 1,080 GWh. It employs three vertical-axis Kaplan turbine
s.
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
s on the Limay River
Limay River
The Limay River is an important river in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia . It is born at the eastern end of the Nahuel Huapi Lake and flows in a meandering path for about 380 km, collecting the waters of several tributaries, such as the Traful, the Pichileufú and the Collón Curá. It then meets...
in northwestern Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
(the Comahue
Comahue
.Comahue is a sub-region of Argentina slightly to the south of the country's centre that covers the northern part of Argentine Patagonia and includes the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro....
region), near the town of Piedra del Águila, Neuquén, at 40°40′S 69°59′W.
The dam is used for the generation of hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
and for the regulation of the flow. It measures 45 m in height and 1,045 m in length, and is made of 1,562,000 m³ of loose materials. It was built by the Sweden-based multinational Skanska
Skanska
Skanska AB, is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden, where it also is the largest construction company. The company's head office is in Solna, north of Stockholm.-History:...
, and inaugurated in 2000.
The reservoir has an area of 19 km² and a volume of 197 million m³ in maximum normal conditions.
The hydroelectric plant has an installed power of 261 MW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
and generates an annual average of 1,080 GWh. It employs three vertical-axis Kaplan turbine
Kaplan turbine
The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by the Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to achieve efficiency over a wide range of flow and...
s.