Chihuido I Multipurpose Project

Description: The Chihuido I project involves the construction of a hydro plant that will use water from the Neuquén river to generate electricity to help meet the country's increasing power demand. Once the project is completed, 1.75GWh/y will be injected into the country's main SADI grid, accounting for more than 3% of its maximum annual demand and increasing hydropower generation for the region by 12%. The project will also allow the regulation of the Neuquén river, controlling excessive floods and ensuring water supply for human consumption, irrigation and industrial use during droughts. The project will be built 5.5 kilometers downstream from the confluence of the Agrio River with the Neuquén River; it will generate a water body of 18,600 hectares that will cover the town of Quili Malal, the rural areas of Villa del Agrio, Bajada del Puente and Agrio de Medio, and part of the lands of the Mapuche Cheuquel community. Chihuido I will ensure the integrity of the Portezuelo Grande dam, located downstream; it will provide security to more than 700,000 inhabitants of the upper valley of Neuquén and Río Negro and will protect some 200,000 hectares under irrigation, gas, oil and electric pipelines in the region. In addition, this project will improve water supply to guarantee human consumption, irrigation and industrial use in times of drought; it will also make a significant contribution of electric energy and power to the National Interconnected System. The project has a sixty-month execution period. Its construction will require 3,000 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs and an extraordinary increase in the region's economic activity.