Serra do Facão Plant


 Credit: José Lins


The Specific Purpose Company (SPE) formed by FURNAS, Alcoa Alumínio S.A., DME Energética and Camargo Corrêa Energia S.A. and Serra do Facão Energia S.A. (Sefac) is responsible for building the Serra do Facão Hydroelectric Unit, which includes the Serra do Facão Hydro Plant and a transmission line.

Stakes in the venture are as follows: FURNAS has 49.47%, Alcoa Alumínio S.A. 34.97%, DME Energética 5.47% and Camargo Corrêa Energia S.A. 10.09%.

Located on the São Marcos River, between the cities of Davinópolis and Catalão (GO), the Serra do Facão Hydroelectric Power Plant has an installed capacity of 212.58 MW, enough to supply a city of 1.2 million people. Construction began in February 2007 and the plant was inaugurated two months ahead of schedule, in October 2010. Around 1.6 thousand direct and 3.2 thousand indirect jobs were created during its construction.

The Serra do Facão reservoir covers an area of 218.84 km² and has a maximum flood height of 756 km². It partially covers five cities in Goiás (Catalão, 72.8%; Campo Alegre de Goiás, 22.4%; Cristalina, 0.6%; Davinópolis, 0.4% and Ipameri, 0.1%); and one in Minas Gerais (Paracatu, 3.7%).


Linked connection system

The 138 kV Serra do Facão/Catalão Transmission Line will connect the power plant substation to the Catalão substation owned by Goiás Electric Plants (CELG), using a double circuit with a 26m wide, 32,820km long easement.


Infrastructure works

7 km of the GO-301 highway were paved and 12.766 km of the GO-506 highway were relocated. The work also included the replacing the old Carapinas Bridge with a modern 526 m bridge, the state’s fourth longest bridge.

200 km of local roads were also relocated and built, including 15 bridges spanning between 15 and 25 meters, eight concrete tunnels and cellular drains for local roads. Moorings were built and two rafts and tugboats were delivered to provide ferry services between Catalão and Campo Alegre. For the states and cities located in the plant’s area, commercial operations are expected to generate returns of R$ 4 million (baseline: Jan/2010) for the first two years and R$ 6 million per year in Financial Compensation for Use of Water Resources (CFUR).


Technical Data


Dam

  • Type: mix of rolled-concrete and clay core
  • Maximum height: 92 m
  • Concrete volume: 795 thousand m³
  • Clay volume: 1,330,000 m³


Reservoir details

  • Normal NA flooded area: 218.84 km²
  • Maximum NA flooded area: 232.37 km²
  • Length: 60 km in a straight line
  • Perimeter: 1.357 km
  • Reservoir Volume: Maximum 5,199,000,000 m³
  • Average depth: 24 m
  • Working life: 100 years


Levels and heads

  • Upstream
  • Maximum NA level: 756.98 m
  • Normal NA level: 756 m
  • Minimum operational level: 732.5 m
  • Downstream
  • Maximum NA level: 680.6 m
  • Normal NA (2 full units without spillage): 675.81 m
  • Normal NA (1 full unit): 675.13 m
  • Operational NA (1 half-full unit with Paraíso): 675.03 m
  • Operational NA (1 half-full unit without Paraíso): 674.56 m


Water Intake

  • Sliding gates
  • Quantity: 2
  • Width: 5.55 m
  • Height: 6.80m
  • Manufacturer: Metalúrgica Atlas


Spillway

  • Surface with gates
  • Maximum Discharge: 2,684 m³/s
  • Segmented-style gates
  • Type: hydraulic drive system
  • Quantity: 2
  • Width: 11.2 m
  • Height: 15.45 m
  • Manufacturer: Metalúrgica Atlas


Powerhouse

  • Type: sheltered
  • Length: 68 m
  • Width: 36 m
  • Generator units: 2
  • Rated capacity per unit: 106.29 MW


Turbines

  • Type: Francis
  • Rotor diameter: 4,160 mm
  • Rotation: 171.4 RPM
  • Rotation direction: clockwise
  • Number of rotor blades: 13
  • Number of distribution blades: 24
  • Manufacturers: Voith


Generators

  • Frequency: 60 Hz
  • Rated voltage: 13,800 V
  • Quantity: 2
  • Transformation ratio: 94.5 %
  • Manufacturer: Siemens