The Machadinho Hydroelectric Power Plant is a dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Pelotas River near Machadinho on the border of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The power station has a 1140 MW capacity and is supplied with water by a concrete face rock-fill embankment dam. It is owned and operated by Machadinho Energetica and produces the equivalent of 37% of the energy consumed in Santa Catarina.

Background

Since 1966 and 1981, a series of studies were carried out on the Machadinho Dam and by 1982 a design was submitted and approved. The plant was slated to being commercial operations in 1993 but the project was delayed because of environmental concerns. The designers reevaluated the project and moved the dam's location further upstream on the river. After a new series of studies and new design were submitted, the project was approved in 1995. The design was prepared by Coyne et Bellier. Construction began on March 2, 1998 and by October 26, 1999, the river diversion was complete. By August 28, 2001, the dam was near completion and it began to impound the Pelotas River. On February 16, 2002, the first generator began to operate and by August 31, 2002 the dam was completed.

Machadinho Dam

The Machadinho Dam is a 700 m long and 126 m high concrete face rock-fill embankment dam with a crest elevation of 480 m above sea level. The dam's reservoir has a capacity of 3300 e6m3, a surface area of 79 km2 and a catchment area of 32500 km2. The dam supports a spillway with eight floodgates measuring 21.8 m wide and 18 m tall with maximum capacity of 35703 m3/s.

Power plant

The above ground power station is 130.2 m long and 37.5 m wide and contains three 136 ton, 380 MW generators powered by Francis turbines. The first generator was commissioned February 16, 2002, the second on April 30 and the final on December 7 of that same year.