The Civil Engineering Contractor June 2018 | Page 13

Brazil is currently constructing what would be
the world’s fourth-largest hydroelectric project on
one of the Amazon River’s major tributaries, the
Xingu River. The Belo Monte Dam will cost more
than USD13-billion, but industry analysts say
that owing to the difficulties in building a project
of this size in the Amazon, i ts cost could easily
exceed USD18-billion. The project will have an
installed capacity of 11 233MW. The first turbine
generator unit of the plant began commercial
operations, with the first power fed into the
National Interconnected System (SIN) in April
2016. The power plant will be fully commissioned
nn
in 2019. The turbines are pictured.
CEC June 2018 - 11