This work addresses the strategy of AES Corporation (AES Chivor) in order to extend the life of La Esmeralda reservoir to support Colombia’s future energy demand. Chivor Hydropower Plant entered into service in 1978 and has a capacity of 1000 MW, 8 % of Colombia’s demand. It is first described how the Colombian electricity energy mix is composed. Then, La Esmeralda reservoir, which is used by Chivor for power generation, is described; sediment management plans and maintenance costs for equipment and infrastructure are addressed. Then, sediment dynamics studies that have been done in order to determine life expectancy of La Esmeralda reservoir are listed. Such studies have been used to execute the Chivor’s Life Extension Project, which considers the modification of intakes as the best option to extend the life of the reservoir for at least 50 years, among several alternatives that were evaluated by a panel of international experts. This represents a challenge from the engineering point of view, and the project will be shown as a successful example for a country with such dependence on hydropower generation. Modernizing existing infrastructure without affecting the operation, as in this case, is crucial to show how a sustainable sediment management plan and technological development are necessary to extend life of hydropower generation projects, and to help meeting energy demand in a sustainable way for countries such as Colombia with a growing economy.

Sedimentation is an important issue that has been studied for the watershed of reservoirs, since it increases operational costs of hydropower installations, reduces the life expectancy, and compromises the generation capacity due to volume reduction. This work addresses the implementation of Chivor’s Life Extension Project (CLEP), developed in order to extend the life of La Esmeralda reservoir, which is used for power generation in Colombia. Sediment dynamics studies are first described and connected to the need of the AES Corporation to extend the life expectancy of the Chivor Hydropower Project. The geotechnical and hydraulic designs are described and the main considerations and tools for the execution of such a project are addressed. The construction of the new intake system was developed under favorable geomorphological, geological, and hydrogeological conditions, and the project is being developed without affecting the current operation. Such an innovative project is the first of its class in Colombia and goes from studies of sediment transport and sediment management strategies in the watershed to the design and construction of new intakes, in order to extend the life of an existing 1000-MW (6% of Colombia’s demand) powerplant for 50 more years, contributing to a sustainable energy supply for the future.

No abstract