Rapel dam
| Rapel dam | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| location | ||
|
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| Coordinates | 34 ° 2 ′ 29 ″ S , 71 ° 35 ′ 19 ″ W | |
| country |
 Chile
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| place | Region VI | |
| Waters | Río Rapel | |
| power plant | ||
| owner | ENDESA | |
| operator | ENDESA | |
| Start of operation | 1968 | |
| technology | ||
| Bottleneck performance | 377 megawatts | |
| Average height of fall |
76 m | |
| Expansion flow | 535 m³ / s | |
| Standard work capacity | 541.68 to 1,495 million kWh / year | |
| Turbines | Francis turbines 5 × 75.4 MW | |
| Others | ||
The Rapel dam or the Rapel power plant ( Spanish Central [hidroeléctrica] Rapel ) is a hydropower plant on the Rapel in Chile . The dam is located in Region VI , about 40 km from the mouth of the Rapel in the Pacific and about 120 km southwest of the capital Santiago de Chile .
In the mid-1960s, the construction of larger hydropower plants began in Chile in order to significantly increase electricity generation. The Rapel power plant went into operation in 1968 as the first of these hydroelectric plants. It is owned by Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA Chile (ENDESA) and is also operated by ENDESA. The engineering office of André Coyne and Jean Bellier acted as consultants for the construction of the dam .
Barrier structure
The barrier structure is a concrete arch dam with a height of 112 m above the foundation base . The length of the top of the wall is 350 m. The maximum thickness of the dam is 18.6 m, the minimum 5.5 m. 760,000 m³ of concrete and 29,000 t of steel were used.
The dam wall has both a bottom outlet and a flood relief with 3 gates on both sides. A maximum of 700 m³ / s can be discharged via the bottom outlet, and a maximum of 9300 m³ / s via the flood discharge. The design flood is 10,000 m³ / s; the probability of this event occurring has been determined to be once every 1,000 years.
Reservoir
With a normal storage target of 105 m above sea level , the reservoir extends over an area of around 80 km² and holds 695.7 million m³ of water - of which 433.2 million m³ can be used to generate electricity. The minimum congestion destination is 97 m.
The reservoir is also used for tourism and water sports.
power plant
With an installed capacity of 377 MW , the Rapel power plant is one of the largest hydropower plants in Chile (as of April 2015). The average annual production fluctuates with the water flow in the Rapel: in 2007 it was 541.68 million kWh and in 2002 it was 1,495 million kWh.
The five machines in the power plant were put into operation in 1968. You are in a machine house at the foot of the dam. The Francis turbines and the generators were supplied by Hitachi . The turbines have a maximum output of 75.4 MW each. The generators have a nominal voltage of 13.8 kV . In the switchgear , the generator voltage is increased from 13.8 kV to 230 kV using power transformers.
The maximum height of fall is 76 m. The maximum flow rate is 107 m³ / s per turbine.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ grandes centrales hidroeléctricas. Memoria Chilena - Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, accessed April 15, 2015 (Spanish).
- ↑ a b c Rapel Hydroelectric Power Plant Chile. Global Energy Observatory, accessed April 15, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e Rapel. (PDF; 2.6 MB) www.memoriachilena.cl, accessed on April 15, 2015 (Spanish).
- ↑ a b Central Rapel (Chile). (No longer available online.) Empresa Nacional de Electricidad SA, archived from the original on April 15, 2015 ; Retrieved April 15, 2015 (Spanish).