The Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam (Spanish: ''Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande'') spans the
Lempa River north of
San Salvador
San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...
in the municipalities of
Potonico, (
Chalatenango) and
Jutiapa
Jutiapa is a city and a municipality in the Jutiapa department of Guatemala.
Located 124 km from the city of Guatemala City, at an altitude of 892 m (2,926 ft), it is the capital of the department of Jutiapa. Its Catedral San Crist ...
(
Cabañas) in
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
.
The concrete gravity dam has a height of and a length of . The dam's reservoir has a surface area of and a capacity of .
The hydroelectric power plant was fitted with 2 x 67.5
MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...
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 pro ...
s with a total capacity of 135 Mwe. Major maintenance work carried out between 2003 and 2007 included replacing the turbines with 2 x 85 MWe units with a total capacity of 170 MWe, which generate 488
GWh per year.
Cerrón Grande Reservoir
The
Cerrón Grande Reservoir (Spanish: ''Embalse Cerrón Grande''), locally known as Lake Suchitlán, is the largest body of fresh water in El Salvador.
In 2005, the reservoir and approximately of adjacent area was listed as a "Wetland of International Importance" under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...
. The area provides a habitat for large numbers of waterbird, duck and fish species.
History
Because of the construction of the Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam, over 13,000 people were displaced with many ''cantons'' or ''townships, caserios'' or ''hamlets,'' churches, cemeteries, and over 20 significant archaeological sites being lost in the process including
Canton El Tablón and Canton San Juan in Suchitoto, Cuscatlán.
See also
*
Electricity sector in El Salvador
*
3 February Hydroelectric Dam
References
Hydroelectric power stations in El Salvador
Dams in El Salvador
Dams completed in 1976
Ramsar sites in El Salvador
Cabañas Department
Chalatenango Department
{{ElSalvador-geo-stub