Work at Yacyreta Bi-national Hydropower Project Concludes After 37 Years

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In a ceremony held February 25 in the city of Posadas, Argentina, in the presence of Argentina's and Paraguay's presidents, the 3,100-megawatt (MW) Yacyreta Hydropower Project, located on the Parana River on the border of Argentina and Paraguay, was officially declared complete, concluding a 37-year project.

The project started in 1973 with the signing of the Yacyreta Treaty. Construction began in 1983. Although the plant's 20 Kaplan turbines, each rated at 155 MW, became operational between 1994 and 1998, the plant has only now begun generating at full capacity.

Because of delays in the execution of complementary infrastructure, compensation and remediation works, between 1994 and 2006 the plant could only operate with its reservoir at a level of 76 meters above sea level, rather than the designed level of 83 meters. During this period, the average generation capacity of the plant was near 1,500 MW, instead of the 3,100 MW of installed capacity. With the signing of the Yacyreta Completion Plan by both governments, a steady rise in the reservoir level occurred, and by the beginning of February 2011, the reservoir was able to achieve a level of 83 meters above sea level.

The Yacyreta Hydropower Plant is the property of Entidad Nacional Yacyreta (Buenos Aires, Argentina), a 50:50 partnership between state-owned companies Administracion Nacional de Electricidad (ANDE) (Asuncion, Paraguay) and Emprendimientos Energerticos Binacionales SA (EBISA) (Buenos Aires).

At present, there is a planned expansion project for Yacyreta, consisting of the installation of five 54-MW Bulb turbine-generator sets on the spillway located on the Aña Cua branch of the river. This way, 270 MW will be added without constructing additional dams or gates.

EBISA, in joint-venture with Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA (NYSE:EBR) (Eletrobras) (Rio de Janeiro), is currently developing the detailed design for the construction of the 2,200-MW Panambi-Garabi complex to be built on the Uruguay River along the Argentina-Brazil border. Construction of this facility is expected to begin by 2013.

ANDE and Electrobras represent the Paraguayan and Brazilian governments at Itaipu Binacional, a bi-national entity that owns and operates the Itaipu Hydropower Plant. The plant is located on the Parana River and is the second-largest hydropower plant in the world, with an installed capacity of 14,000 MW. Currently, Itaipu Binacional is conducting a tender process for the expansion of the substation on the right margin of the Itaipu Hydro Plant, plus the construction of a grassroot substation in the city of Villa Hayes near Asuncion City and a 500-kilovolt high-voltage transmission line. Itaipu Binational plans to spend nearly $380 million on this project, which should be completed by the end of 2012.

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