Endesa Chile has announced a US$661.5 million loan to build its new 150-MW Los Condores hydropower plant, the power generator announced earlier this week.
Located on the Laguna del Maule reservoir in Chile’s Maule VII region, power generated at the plant will come from two vertical-shaft Pelton turbines installed in an underground powerhouse at the end of a 12-kilometer-long tunnel.
Endesa Chile said the project was not originally to have a fully subterranean powerhouse, though changes were made to decrease the plant’s impact on the surrounding environment.
Civil works — including construction of the intake, headrace, powerhouse and discharge channel — are expected to take about four years, with Los Condores being put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2018.
HydroWorld.com reported in March 2011 that Endesa had submitted a new environmental impact assessment that better reflected the proposal’s updated design. The previous assessment was submitted in April 2008.
Endesa said in May 2008 that it had approved a $273 million investment to construction Los Condores.
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