The Dona Francisca Hydroelectric Plant ( pt, Usina Hidrelétrica Dona Francisca) is a hydroelectric plant on the

Jacuí River The Jacuí River () is a river in Rio Grande do Sul state of southern Brazil. The Jacuí empties into the Guaíba River, an estuarine arm of the Lagoa dos Patos, a large coastal lagoon connected to the Atlantic Ocean. Sources The Jacuí River, ...

in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, Brazil, completed in 2001. It delivers 80 MW guaranteed power.

History

The Dona Francisca Dam impounds the upper

, and is divided between the municipalities of Agudo and

Nova Palma Nova Palma is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The municipality contains part of the hydroelectric Dona Francisca Dam on the upper Jacuí River. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul References

M ...

, Rio Grande do Sul. The environmental study was undertaken by Engevix. The installation license was granted by FEPAM/RS on 1 July 1998. The initial concession of 35 years was granted on 28 August 1998. Construction began in August 1998. The operational license was granted on 30 November 2000. The plant entered operation in 2001. The second generation unit came into operation on 12 April 2001. The plant was officially inaugurated on 21 May 2001 in a ceremony attended by Vice President

Marco Maciel Marco Antônio de Oliveira Maciel (21 July 1940 – 12 June 2021) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and law school professor who served as the 22nd vice president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002, twice elected on the same ti ...

and governor of Rio Grande do Sul,

Olívio Dutra Olívio de Oliveira Dutra (born 10 June 1941 in Bossoroca, Rio Grande do Sul) is a Brazilian politician. He is a founding member of the Workers' Party. Early political career (1961-1989) Dutra graduated in Grammar school and became an employ ...

. The State Electric Power Company (CEEE) and Dona Francisca Energética SA (Dfesa) received a 35-year concession to exploit the plant's power potential.

Technical

The reservoir has an area of . The dam is a high rolled compacted concrete structure. The powerhouse contains two

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

s. Water is delivered to the turbines from two penstocks, each long and in diameter. The total head is about . Installed capacity is 125 MW, with 80 MW guaranteed. Annual production is 679 GWh.

Financial

As of May 2001 investment was R$205 million. The total cost was US$130 million. The responsible companies were

Gerdau Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, with steel mills in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. Currently, Gerdau has an installed capacity of 26 mill ...

(48%),

Celesc Celesc is the electricity utility for the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. In 2014, the company had around 2.6-million customers and sold around 23.3 TWh of electricity. It generates power from 16 plants, all of them hydroelectric, wit ...

(Santa Catarina Electric Power Plants: 20%), CEEE (10%) and Desenvix (2%). From 23 August 2010 the concession was divided between CEEE (10%) and Dona Francisca Energética (90%). Dona Francisca Energética is owned by

Statkraft Statkraft AS is a hydropower company, fully owned by the Norwegian state. The Statkraft Group is a generator of renewable energy, as well as Norway’s largest and the Nordic region's third largest energy producer. Statkraft develops and generates ...

(2.12%),

Copel Copel - Companhia Paranaense de Energia is a Brazilian electric utility company, the largest company of the State of Paraná, founded on October 26, 1954 with ownership control held by the State of Paraná. The Company went public in April 1994 ...

(23.03%), Celesc (23.03%) and Gerdau (51.82%).

Impact

The reservoir floods parts of the municipalities of Agudo, Ibarama,

Arroio do Tigre Arroio do Tigre is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The municipality is partly flooded by the reservoir of the Dona Francisca Hydroelectric Plant on the upper Jacuí River. History The principal settlement of the region ...

, Pinhal Grande, Nova Palma and Estrela Velha, all in Rio Grande do Sul. It affected 518 rural properties, and 540 families with a total of 2,709 people were required to move. The Quarta Colônia State Park is on the left bank of the reservoir of the Dona Francisca dam, with an area of . The park was created in 2005 as environmental compensation for the hydroelectric plant.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dona Francisca Hydroelectric Plant Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil Buildings and structures in Rio Grande do Sul Dams completed in 2001 Energy infrastructure completed in 2001