Enel begins operation at 400MW hydro plant in Colombia

Enel, through its subsidiary Emgesa, has begun operation at 400MW hydro power plant in El Quimbo, Colombia.

It is located 350km southwest of capital Bogotá and fed by the largest Magdalena river that crosses six municipalities Gigante, Garzón, Altamira, El Agrado, Paicol and Tesalia.

The facility, worth US$1.2bn, includes a 3.2 billion m3 reservoir and will supply 2.2TWh/y of power which is enough to feed about 4% of country’s electricity demand.

The company led by Francesco Starace has invested approximately $ 1.2bn in the power plant.

Enel CEO Francesco Starace said: "El Quimbo has already recorded a number of firsts. It is the most impressive engineering work built by the Enel Group in the last six years, is one of Enel’s largest hydropower investments in South America and is also the first privately financed power plant in Colombia.

"This facility further strengthens the Group’s presence in the region, where we will be involved with significant investments in all sectors of our value chain in the coming years."

The second unit is expected to be commissioned by the end of this month.

The unit operations will help in reducing effects of El Niño, which has been causing atmospheric drought conditions, on the supply of electricity.

The commissioned power plant has increased power capacity to 3500MW while in 2014 it generated only 13.6TWh of power.

Enel Green, the Latin American unit of Enersis, boasts of 14.8 million customers with17GW of power generating capacity in five countries, mainly in thermal and hydropower.