Iberdrola commissions Teles Pires power plant in Brazil

Iberdrola has commissioned the Teles Pires hydroelectric power plant located in Brazil through its Neoenergia holding.

The investment in this facility touched about €1.1bn and the initiative included avant-garde environmental projects, such as an innovative system to minimise water consumption and a design that blends in completely with the Amazon jungle.

Teles Pires comes with an installed capacity of 1,820MW to supply electricity to a population of five million Brazilians.

It consists of five turbines with a unit capacity of 364MW each.

The plant is located on the border of the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, on the River Teles Pires, which is a tributary of the River Tapajós, close to the towns of Jacareacanga and Paranaíta.

It was developed by a consortium formed by Neoenergia (50.1%), Furnas (24.5%), Eletrosul (24.5%) and Odebrecht (0.9%).

Iberdrola completed this project in 40 months.

Around 6,500 (mostly local) employees worked on the project, for which a city providing all the necessary services was built.

Further, commissioning the plant required the construction of a water-processing plant, as well as sanitation facilities and areas for public use.

The construction of this facility also had a positive impact because of the indirect jobs generated, as a further 15,000 people in the area benefited from the initiative and several local companies were involved in providing services to the project.