Iberdrola has announced that assembly of the first turbine unit for the 880-MW Gouvaes hydro plant has begun, signaling a key milestone in the construction of the 1,158-MW Tamega Hydroelectric Complex in Portugal.
The complex, on the Tamega River, will cost more than à¢â€š¬1.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) to complete and will produce about 1,766 GWh of electricity when it is operational.
The Gouvaes pumped-storage plant is scheduled to begin operating at the end of 2021. It will consist of four reversible pump-turbines in an underground powerhouse. In August 2016, we announced that Andritz Hydro GmbH was the company chosen to supply the electromechanical equipment for Gouvaes, in an order worth about US$156 million.
The other two generating elements of this complex are the 164-MW Alto Tamega and 114-MW Daivoes powerhouses.
Iberdrola announced in April 2017 that it had awarded a construct to a consortium to build Alto Tamega, which will include a 106.5-m-tall double-curvature concrete arch dam and a powerhouse at the dam’s toe. And in January 2017 the company announced excavation of the diversion tunnel for Daivoes had been completed.
Iberdrola reports that construction of this complex is “having a positive impact on the region’s economy.” The company says 13,500 direct and indirect jobs will be created throughout the construction period.
Iberdrola has 29,479 MW of renewable power installed and a total of 48,871 MW of generating capacity from all technologies. Including “increasingly more renewable energy” in its generation mix has allowed the company to continue reducing its emissions during the first half-year of 2018, according to a press release.
