Belo Monte in countdown

Plant is waiting for Operating License from Ibama to start filling its main reservoir

Hydroelectric Plant of Belo Monte—the main power project being carried out currently in Brazil—started its countdown. It is considered fundamental to ensure the safety and reliability of the hydroelectric system. Its main milestone, the river diversion, was carried out in last August and the navigation is ensured by the Sistema de Transposição de Embarcações (System of Ship Transposition), which works in a 24-hour shift at no cost for the user. The License of Operation was given by the Instituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Renováveis (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Resources - Ibama) only in November. Works are planned to go till 2019, when the last (24th) turbine will be installed. Stops caused by social movements brought more difficulties to the planning than the “weather window” of the Amazon.

Important milestones of the Project are overcome. The Pimental Dam, with the complementary Power House is in its final phase, as well as the containment dikes. According to Norte Energia, concessionary responsible by the Project, Belo Monte Dam will be ready to generate in the first months of 2016.

The project is composed by two dams, two reservoirs, one spillway and one deviation canal. The Pimental Dam is in the riverbed of Xingu River. It is 40 m high and shelters the complementary power house, equipped with six bulb type turbines with installed generation capacity of 233.1 MW. It will be responsible by the creation of the main reservoir, in the riverbed of Xingu River, increasing its normal level to the elevation 97 (what means 97 meters above the sea level, considering the bottom of the riverbed), preventing what occurs  once a year in Altamira, when the river is above the elevation 98 in the rain period.

The spillway was built at its side. It has 18 gates and will regulate the flow downstream of Pimental Dam, in the so-called Volta Grande do Xingu (Large Turn of Xingu). The difference of level created by the Pimental Dam will allow to derivate the excess of water to the intermediate reservoir through a canal of trapezoidal section 210 m wide at the base, 360 m wide at the top, 25 m deep and 20 km long. Up to 14 million liters per second will flow through this canal to feed the intermediate reservoir, located in areas used before as pastures.

The main dam of Belo Monte, which is 100 m high and has 18 Francis turbines with total installed capacity of 11.000 MW is being built at the end of the intermediate reservoir. After being used, the water deviated through the canal will be returned to the Xingu River at the end of the Large Turn. The excavation of the Deviation Canal—one of the main technical challenges of the project—involved the excavation of 120 million cu.mt. in a place with very high rainfall index. It was carried out in four years, according to the initial scheduling. This phase was overcome with the construction of a complex system of water handling and damping basins which allows the reduction of the effects of rain and surface waters.

According to the contractors, some of the planning highlights were the installation of the NEO – Núcleo de Excelência Operacional (Center of Operational Excellence) and the Controle de Gerenciamento de Frota de Veículos e Equipamentos (Management Control of the Equipment and Vehicle Fleet) that contributed to match the deadlines and to adapt processes and schedules to prevent deviations in all service fronts.