The two hydropower stations undertaken by PowerChina have witnessed the establishment of friendly diplomatic relations between China and Honduras. PowerChina has won a good reputation and reputation from the local government and people for its good performance of the contract. In the future, PowerChina will continue to leverage its corporate advantages to build a beautiful Honduras. Before China and Honduras formally established diplomatic relations, PowerChina had come to this beautiful country to design and build the Patuca III Hydropower Station, the largest hydropower station in the country in the past 30 years. In 2019, it also undertook the construction of the Arenal Hydropower Station to contribute to the friendly development of China and Hong Kong.

Patuca III Hydropower Station

The Patuca III Hydropower Station has an installed capacity of 104 megawatts and an average annual power generation of 326 million kWh. It was constructed by the 11th Hydropower Bureau of China Power Construction. This project is the first large-scale hydropower project in Honduras in the past 30 years. It has received great attention from the government and society of the country. It is also the first time that China has used Chinese financing in a country that has not yet established diplomatic relations. The project construction has created a precedent for Chinese-funded enterprises to use the buyer's credit model under the national sovereign guarantee to promote project implementation in a country that has not established diplomatic relations.

Panorama of Patuca III Hydropower Station in Honduras

Hydropower plant unit

The main construction content includes the construction of a roller-compacted concrete gravity dam and powerhouse, the installation of two 52-megawatt axial-flow turbine generator sets and substations, and the erection of a 43-kilometer double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line. The power station officially started construction on September 21, 2015, and realized grid-connected power generation on December 20, 2020. After the hydropower station is put into operation, it will help adjust the energy structure of Honduras, provide 4% of the electricity for the country's power system, further alleviate the state of power shortage in Honduras, and inject new impetus into the local economic development.

Panoramic view of hydropower station

The project held Children's Day donation activities

During the construction process, the project department continued to promote localized construction, allowing local employees participating in the construction to master a skill. Actively fulfilling the social responsibilities of central enterprises, donating construction materials, learning and sporting goods to local schools, repairing roads for local communities, etc., has received high attention and repeated reports from local mainstream newspapers, and won good reputation and reputation for Chinese enterprises.

arena hydropower station

The Arenal Hydropower Station is located in Yoro Province, northern Honduras, and was constructed by the 11th Bureau of Hydropower, a subsidiary of Power China. The dam is a medium-thick roller compacted concrete arch dam with a height of 100 meters and a crest length of 273 meters. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 52 million cubic meters and a total installed capacity of 60 megawatts. The power station is mainly composed of diversion tunnels, RCC single-curvature arch dams, diversion tunnels, penstock steel pipes, pressure regulating shafts, ground powerhouses and switch stations. After the completion of the project, it can generate 360 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year, benefiting about 1 million people, and playing an important role in peak regulation and amplitude regulation of Honduras' electricity consumption.

Arenal hydroelectric dam begins filling

The project started on February 15, 2019. On April 26, 2022, the open overflow surface of the dam successfully passed the water, and the water storage of the dam was a complete success, which further enhanced the influence and credibility of Chinese enterprises in the Honduras market. It has laid a solid foundation for PowerChina to further develop the Honduras market.

During the construction process, in the face of double hurricanes, which are rare in a century, the project department built roads and dredged landslide roads for the local government to minimize disaster losses. In addition, the project department actively promotes the construction of localization, continuously intensifies the training and use of foreign executives and local foremen, attaches great importance to the optimization and training of local engineers and foremen, and takes advantage of the localized management model to create job opportunity.Editor/Ma Xue