Opening date 1976 Opened 1976 | Operator(s) CEL Height 90 m | |
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Official name Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande Similar Lempa River, Lago Suchitlán, Cerro El Pital, Lake Ilopango, Coatepeque Caldera | ||
The Cerrón Grande Hydroelectric Dam (Spanish: Central Hidroeléctrica Cerrón Grande) spans the Lempa River 78 km north of San Salvador in the municipalities of Potonico, (Chalatenango) and Jutiapa (Cabañas) in El Salvador.
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Map of Cerr%C3%B3n Grande Dam, San Antonio Las Flores, Guatemala
The concrete gravity dam has a height of 90 m and a length of 800 m. The dam's reservoir has a surface area of 135 km² and a capacity of 2,180 million m³.
The hydroelectric power plant was fitted with 2 x 67.5 MWe Francis turbines with a total capacity of 135 Mwe. Major maintenance work carried out between 2003-2007 included replacing the turbines with 2 x 85 MWe units with a total capacity of 170 MWe, which generate 488 GWh per year.
Cerrón Grande Lake
The Cerrón Grande reservoir (Spanish: Embalse Cerrón Grande), locally known as Suchitlán Lake, is the largest body of fresh water in El Salvador. In 2005, the reservoir and approximately 470 km2 (180 sq mi) of adjacent area was listed as a "Wetland of International Importance" under the Ramsar Convention. The area provides a habitat for large numbers of waterbird, duck and fish species.