Macagua Dam


The Macagua Dam, officially known as Antonio José de Sucre, is an embankment dam with concrete gravity sections on the Caroní River in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is upstream from the confluence of the Caroni and Orinoco Rivers, downstream of the Guri Dam and downstream of the Caruachi Dam. The dam's main purpose is hydroelectric power generation and it was later named after Antonio José de Sucre.

Dam

The Macagua Dam is a tall and long embankment dam with concrete gravity sections for each of the three different power stations. The dam supplies water to three power stations with a generation capacity of.

Power plants

Macagua I

Macagua I was constructed from 1956 to 1961 and it contains 6 x Francis turbine-generators for an installed capacity of. Currently, Macagua I is undergoing a refurbishment in order to increase the capacity of each generator from 64 MW to. The first generator was complete in 2010, the second is expected to be completed in 2011 and another each year thereafter.

Macagua II

Macagua II contains 12 x Francis turbine-generators for an installed capacity of. Macagua II began operation in 1996 and was inaugurated in January 1997.

Macagua III

Macagua III contains 2 x Kaplan turbine-generators for an installed capacity of. Macagua II began operation in 1996 and was inaugurated in January 1997.