Touvedo Dam ( pt, Barragem de Touvedo, links=no) is a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...

on the

Limia ''Limia'' is a genus of livebearing fishes belonging to the Cyprinodontiform family Poeciliidae, which includes other livebearers such as platys, swordtails (genus ''Xiphophorous''), guppies and mollies (genus ''Poecilia''). They are found i ...

. It is located in the municipality

Ponte da Barca Ponte da Barca (; ) is a municipality in the district of Viana do Castelo (district), Viana do Castelo in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 12,061, in an area of 182.11 km2. The present Mayor is Augusto Manuel Dos Reis Marinho, elected by ...

Arcos de Valdevez Arcos de Valdevez () is a concelho, municipality along the northern frontier of Portugal and Galicia (Spain), Galicia (Spain). The population in 2011 was 22,847,Viana do Castelo District The Viana do Castelo District ( pt, Distrito de Viana do Castelo ) is a district located in the northwest of Portugal, bordered on the north by Spain ( Galicia) and on the south by Braga District. It has an area of and a population of 252,011 (2 ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Construction of the dam began in 1987. The dam was completed in 1993. It is owned by ''Companhia Portuguesa de Produção de Electricidade'' (CPPE). The dam is used for power generation, irrigation and flood control.

Dam

Touvedo Dam is a 42.5 m tall (height above foundation) and 133.5 m long gravity dam with a crest altitude of 55 m. The volume of the dam is 74,620 m³. The

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

with 3 cradial gates is part of the dam body (maximum discharge 3,200 m³/s). There is also a bottom outlet which can discharge up to 50 m³/s.

Reservoir

At full reservoir level of 50 m the reservoir of the dam has a surface area of 1.72 km² and a total capacity of 15.5 mio. m³. The active capacity is 4.5 (4.0) mio. m³. Minimum operating level is 47.5 m. The reservoir of Touvedo Dam serves as lower reservoir for the Alto Lindoso

pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

power plant.

Power plant

The

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power plant was commissioned in 1993. It is operated by EDP. The plant has a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

of 22 MW. Its average annual generation is 66.8 (61, 67, or 78)

GWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...

. The power station contains one

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to ach ...

-generator with 22.2 MW (24 MVA) in a dam powerhouse located on the left side of the dam. The turbine rotation is 187.5 rpm. The minimum

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a specific measurement of liquid pressure above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22. It is usually measured as a liquid surface elevation, expressed in units of length, ...

is 20 m, the maximum 25 m. Maximum flow per turbine is 100 m³/s. The turbine and generator were provided by GEC-

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Touvedo Dam Dams in Portugal Hydroelectric power stations in Portugal Gravity dams Dams completed in 1993 Energy infrastructure completed in 1993 1993 establishments in Portugal Buildings and structures in Viana do Castelo District Lima River Ponte da Barca

Dam

Reservoir

Power plant

See also

References