Celec EP reported that at the moment the problems of regressive erosion in Piedra Fina are distant from the catchment works of the hydroelectric plant.
It is now five months, since July 18, that the natural phenomenon of regressive erosion in the Coca River has been stopped 7.9 kilometers downstream from the catchment works of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant. So far, regressive erosion has not affected the operation of Coca Codo Sinclair, which supplies 30% of the country’s electricity demand, except in specific events when flows in the Coca River have increased, at the height of the powerhouse unloading, and the operation has been suspended momentarily.
The problems currently being generated by the regressive erosion of the tributaries of the Coca River (Quijos and Piedra Fina) remain far from the hydroelectric plant. The Piedra Fina River is located 13 km away from the catchment works of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.
However, according to the technical explanation of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec EP), the erosion in the Coca river represents two threats to the hydroelectric plant, well on the one hand if erosion reaches the catchment works, it could cause the operation to stop. There is also the risk of accumulation of sediments in the channel of the Coca river, at the height of the discharge tunnel, which could affect the evacuation of the turbine waters after the build process.
Own The presence of the hydroelectric plant had been pointed out by some experts as a probable cause of the erosion process, as it would have generated hungry waters that have been destroying the environment. SHowever, the studies of the Swiss firm Lombardi, carried out in May, June and July 2020, show that the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall, which was located 19 kilometers downstream from the catchment works of the hydroelectric plant, was the product of a natural phenomenon. “It is considered that the disappearance of the San Rafael waterfall was part of the continuous process of natural erosion of the river generated by the runoff of the Coca river itself. The construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, specifically its intake work, cannot have had any effect on the phenomenon ”, said said report.
Meanwhile, at the moment, work is being carried out to dislodge the accumulated sediments in the area of the discharge of the turbine waters. from the hydroelectric power station (Codo Sinclair sector). With these works, if in the next floods of the river a greater volume of sediment is produced in this area, the river levels will be normalized, which will allow a normal operation of the discharge of the turbined waters of the hydroelectric plant.
It is also built a new rock dam in the zone of regressive erosion. It is located at kilometer 9.5 downstream of the water catchment works water from the hydroelectric plant and is part of the provisional works to slow down the erosion process in the Coca River. In addition, work is being done on the widening of the riverbed on its right bank, in order to reduce the unit flow (amount of water that passes through one meter wide of the riverbed).
Further, On December 2, 2021, Celec and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Usace) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the US agency to provide technical support. in the study, mitigation, control and remediation of the current and potential effects of regressive erosion and sediment transport within the Coca River to Celec. (I)
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