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The El Chocón Dam (in Spanish, La Presa de El Chocón) is the fourth of five dams on the Limay River in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia (the Comahue region), approximately at [show location on an interactive map] 39°17′S, 68°48′W, 381 m above mean sea level.
El Chocón is used to regulate the flow of the Limay River, for irrigation, and for the generation of hydroelectricity. Its power station is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Patagonia, with a capacity of 1,200 MW. It was built by the state-owned company Hidronor (Hidroeléctrica Norpatagónica). It started operating in 1973, and achieved full capacity in 1978. In the period 1974–1995 it produced an annual average of 2,700 GWh. In 1993 it was privatized, with an exploitation concession granted to Hidroeléctrica El Chocón S. A.
While the formal name of the project is Embalse Ezequiel Ramos Mexía, in common use it ended up acquiring the name of the settlement that served as the construction's base of operations, Villa El Chocón (a small town, population 957, as of 2001).
El Chocón is part of a larger engineering scheme that also includes the Cerros Colorados Complex, on the Neuquén River.
Technical details
The dam is made of earth, with a concrete spillway. About 13 million m³ of materials were used. It measures 2,500 m in length. Its maximum height over the river bed is 71 m.
The reservoir has a maximum area of 816 km², a mean depth of 24.7 m (maximum 60 m), and a maximum volume of 2.0155×1010 m³. It is used for sailing, sport fishing and other forms of recreation by locals and tourists.
The power plant has six vertical Francis turbines, with a nominal power of 204.5 MW each, which rotate at 88 rpm. The apparent powers are of 222 MVA for each generator, and 180 MVA for each transformer.
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