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3 April 2006 - The 2160 MW Caruachi Hydroelectric Plant, located in southeastern Venezuela and powered by 12 turbine-generators provided by GE Energy, was officially inaugurated last Friday in a ceremony attended by government and business leaders from many South American countries.
Located about 500 km from Caracas on the lower reaches of the Caroni River in Bolivar state, the new plant is capable of producing about 12 000 GWh of power annually, boosting Venezuela's total generating capacity by about 11 per cent. The Caruachi project is one of three hydroelectric complexes operated by the state-owned utility, C.V.G. Electrificación del Caroní, C.A. (C.V.G. EDELCA).
The contract for the design, supply and installation of the main electro-mechanical equipment was awarded to a consortium of Kvaerner of Norway (Kvaerner's hydro interests since acquired by GE), GE Energy of America and Elin Transormatoren GmbH of Austria. Major work began on the project in 1998.
The first of the 180 MW Kaplan turbine-generators GE supplied for the project began commercial operation in April of 2003; the 12th and final unit entered service on February 28, 2006.
"The Caruachi project is one of the world's largest hydro projects to be brought online over the past few years, and is an excellent example of GE's total project capability," said Mike Conway, general manager of GE Energy's hydro business. "The design and supply of the equipment involved GE facilities in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the U.K. GE also provided project management and installation, and supported the project by helping to arrange the financing through European and Canadian export credit agencies. GE Energy's hydro team is proud to have been selected by C.V.G. EDLECA to support this important project, and looks forward to continuing the relationship we have developed over the past eight years."
The Caruachi plant is located about 35 kilometres from where the Caroni and Orinoco Rivers meet at Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela. Hydro plants along the Caroni River, including the massive 10 000 MW Guri plant completed in the 1980s, supply about three-quarters of Venezuela's electricity. GE supplied five 700 MW generators for Guri II and four 360 MW generators for Guri I.
When all planned projects are completed, C.V.G. EDELCA estimates that harnessing the Lower Caroni River will save Venezuela the equivalent of 500,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to 400,000 currently.
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