On January 8, EMGESA was notified of the decision on the writ issued by the Third Penal Court of Neiva, which ordered the Company to immediately and temporarily generate energy with the El Quimbo Hydroelectric Plant.
EMGESA immediately proceeded to put in place a work plan in order to comply with the decision and to begin providing the essential public service of energy generation.
The generation will begin with a load of 84 MWh, which will gradually increase, thus complying with the ecological flow established in the Environmental License.
According to the dispatch conditions of the National Electric Grid, the date scheduled to begin operation is set for Sunday, January 10, at midnight.
The start-up of the El Quimbo Hydroelectric Plant will give greater reliability to the National Electric Grid, since the plant will provide 5% of the system's energy demand. El Quimbo is not at 63% capacity, which is equivalent to 5% of the country's energy supply for two consecutive months. Likewise, the beginning of operations will allow additional inflows into Betania, limiting the possible impacts of fish farming in the reservoir.
EMGESA will continue to monitor the water quality of four water points downstream from El Quimbo reservoir, which will be reported daily to the environmental and judicial authorities, as well as the fish-farming guild of Betania. These monitors measure parameters like oxygen, pH levels and temperature, among others.
During the initial generation process, it is possible that there will be some smells due to the water that has been stagnant. As the Company has reported from past months, these smells will dissipate inasmuch as the generation continues.
“It is important for the future operation of the reservoir that a decision is made regarding the preventative measure, and in this sense, we maintain that EMGESA has complied with its obligations to dispose of the biomass, as contained in the environmental license. As of today, EMGESA has taken out more than 500,000 m3 of wood, biomass and bamboo that was found in the temporary and definitive collection centers provided to that end”
The Company positively welcomes the decision to allow renewing the El Quimbo Hydroelectric Plant operations, a project that is available to provide the public service of energy generation since November 16, 2015.
The El Quimbo operation is positive for the national electrical system, in that it provides reliability during an intense El Niño phenomenon. It is positive for the fish farmers because water flowing into the Betania Reservoir increases, and it is positive for the environment because it continues to replace the reservoir water, a process that is necessary in stabilizing new reservoirs.