One of the three pending challenges that the Ituango hydroelectric project has for the first power generation unit to come into operation on July 26 of this year had a new advance recently, after the visit of the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA).
The technical team of the National Authority for Environmental Licenses, from February 7 to 11, made the control and follow-up visit to this project and validated that EPM is taking the pertinent actions to overcome the contingency that occurred in 2018.
The ANLA visited the works in general, the powerhouse, the left and right margins of the landfill, the reservoir, the monitoring center and other sites of interest, in order to carry out the analysis and verification of the information presented in the report. the Chilean company Pöyry.
Although the environmental authority did not say more about the visit, it did announce that its technical team will continue with the analysis of the document and recalled that the ANLA makes pronouncements through administrative acts.
This is considered progress in one of the challenges of the project, which is to recover the environmental license with the Pöyry report, which was requested in 2018 by the ANLA as an expert opinion on the stability conditions of Hidroituango.
The report was delivered at the end of December 2021 and it depends on it that the environmental authority lift Resolution 820 so that the project can be continue with the works other than those exclusive to the contingency.
Hidroituango power cables. Each one has a diameter of 13.3 centimeters and can reach 600 meters.
Due to the pandemic, the visits of the international experts could not be carried out, so the report had a delay of approximately a year and a half to be delivered.
Jorge Andrés Carrillo -general manager of EPM- indicated in January that it will be the Anla, within the framework of its powers, that must inform, communicate or require everything related to said report on the current stability of the project and the operation of the future generation center.
“Due to the pandemic, the visits of the international experts could not be carried out, so the report had a delay of approximately a year and a half to be delivered. This is an opinion and not a root cause study of what happened in the contingencyCarrillo clarified.
The manager clarified that the start-up of Hidroituango depends on the recovery of said environmental license.
Panoramic view of Hidroituango.
Precisely, this report warns about the risk of the landfill, which is still in operation and is a work that it is not made to be in constant operation.
In this regard, EPM indicated that this is their main concern and made it clear that the only option to evacuate the water, other than the landfill, is through the generation units, that is, for Hidroituango to start operating.
The other two earrings
The first major challenge is the auxiliary diversion gallery, which was plugged in 2018 and caused the current contingency.
William Giraldo, Vice President of Power Generation Projects at EPM, explained that in 2019, as a result of this contingency, the two gates installed in this gallery, weighing 300 tons each, were closed to prevent the passage of water.
Hidroituango power house.
With the pumping of the water that was in this area, it was possible to enter sufficient personnel and machinery to carry out the proper cleaning and removal of debris and mud.
In the last days of January “it was possible to enter the auxiliary diversion gallery (GAD), a very positive fact for the recovery of the project and for the tranquility of the communities located downstream. With the pumping of the water that was in this It was possible to enter the area with sufficient personnel and machinery to carry out the proper cleaning and removal of debris and mud,” Giraldo said.
The other challenge to start operating is that the powerhouse, the ‘heart of Hidroituango’, which was flooded for 271 days, is adequate.
Currently, work is underway to put the first two generation units into service, in July and October of this year.
“The civil works of the first generation unit have already been completed and work has begun on the installation of electromechanical equipment and the control and installation of all auxiliary services. In the generation 2 unit, the emptying of the remaining concrete is carried out. It is estimated that in a month it would be reaching level 217, the same level where unit 1 is located and where the work is leveled out so that it begins to operate in October,” Giraldo said.
MEDELLIN
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