The Governor José Richa Hydroelectric Plant, formerly known as Salto Caxias, is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

and

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

on the

Iguazu River The Iguazu River ( , ), also called Rio Iguassu, (from the Guaraní ''í Guazú'', literally "Big Water") is a river in Brazil and Argentina. It is an important tributary of the Paraná River. The Iguazu River is long, with a drainage basin of ...

near Caxias in

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is the first dam upstream of the

Iguazu Falls Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls ( , ; ; Tupi: Y Ûasu "big water") are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together, they make up the largest waterfall sys ...

and was constructed between 1995 and 1999. The power station has a capacity and is supplied with water by a

roller-compacted concrete Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) or rolled concrete (rollcrete) is a special blend of concrete that has essentially the same ingredients as conventional concrete but in different ratios, and increasingly with partial substitution of fly ash for po ...

gravity dam. It is owned and operated by

Copel Companhia Paranaense de Energia (COPEL) 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 ...

who renamed it after

José Richa José Richa (11 September 1934 – 17 December 2003) was a Brazilian politician who served as a senator of the state of Paraná (state), Paraná from 1987 to 1995, earlier having served as governor from 1983 to 1986. Prior to serving these positi ...

, governor of Paraná between 1983 and 1986.

José Richa Dam

The José Richa Dam is high, long and was built with roller-compacted concrete. It is the eighth largest of its type in the world. The dam's designer, Intertechne Consultores Associados, along with Copel decided on an RCC design as it would be 25% cheaper than an embankment dam. Cracks were noticed in the dam during inundation in 1998 and Copel announced a plan to repair them in 2005. The dam's

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 ...

contains 14 wide and high

radial gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for its inventor, the Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. Tainter, an employee of the lumber firm Knapp, ...

s, and has a maximum capacity of . On the western portion of the dam, 15

sluice gate A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

s feed water from the reservoir into the power plant's intake channel.

Power plant

Water from the dam's intake channel is fed into the power station by means of four diameter and long

carbon steel Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states: * no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt ...

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill pond ...

s. The power station is long and contains four generators manufactured by Ansaldo Coemsa. Each generator is power by a vertical-shaft

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 ...

manufactured by Kvaerner.

Resettlement program

25% of the dam's $1 billion cost was involved in a resettlement program for the 1,000 families displace by the reservoir. The program included building community centers, roads, churches along with paying for healthcare, environmental protection and land provisions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jose Richa Hydroelectric Plant Energy infrastructure completed in 1999 Hydroelectric power stations in Paraná (state) Dams in Paraná (state) Dams on the Iguazu River Roller-compacted concrete dams Gravity dams Dams completed in 1999 1999 establishments in Brazil

José Richa Dam

Power plant

Resettlement program

See also

References