Corporacion Multi Inversiones issued the following announcement on March 22.
Guatemala has the largest private hydroelectric complex in Central America: the Renace Hydroelectric Complex, which has four cascading plants in 21 km of the Cahabón River.
The Complex - part of the Energy Unit of Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI) -, located in the municipality of San Pedro Carchá, is made up of the Renace I, II, III and IV power plants in the department of Alta Verapaz.
The process starts in the Derivation area. The river reaches the dam to take the flow, that is, the portion of water with which the energy will be generated. Then, the garbage and debris that is in the river is removed from the water.
The water is conducted through channels and a tunnel to the daily regulation reservoir, which guarantees that the water flows, is not stored or retained, allowing covering the period of greatest energy demand in the country: From 6:00 p.m. 10:00 pm
The water passes through the sand trap, which reduces the velocity of the channel and removes sand and debris. The water is released by a pipe 210 meters high that reach turbines located in the House of Machines.
The House of Machines has turbines that rotate thanks to the force that carries the water. This force is converted into clean electrical energy and then passes to a substation to be delivered to the National Electrification System.
"When the water finishes generating energy, it maintains its natural channel", explained Juan Carlos Méndez, General Director of CMI Energía, indicating that at all times, even in the generation process, the ecological flow is maintained, which serves for the use of the communities and to prevail the flora, fauna and biodiversity in the area.
By law it is established that in a hydroelectric project must maintain an ecological flow, which is water that does not pass through the hydroelectric. In the case of Renace, its ecological flow exceeds the legal requirement by 260%.
The Renace Hydroelectric Complex supplies 301 MW of pure, clean and renewable energy, which represents about 13% of the energy consumed in Guatemala.
Since 1994, Renace has created a source of work and implemented environmental and social programs that have contributed to the development and quality of life of the inhabitants living in communities neighboring the project.
"They do not pollute, they do not use chemicals, they clean river waste, they do not consume water and they attract investment to the area where we operate, generate employment and promote social development," Méndez said, indicating that hydroelectric power plants are a very beneficial way for the planet.
How is energy generated?
There are two ways to generate energy: renewable and non-renewable energy. Within the renewable energy is the hydraulics. This type of power generation is one of the oldest in the world and one of the cleanest and most ecological.
Original source: https://www.cmi.co/es/item/429-como-funciona-una-hidroelectrica
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