Alto Lindoso Dam


Alto Lindoso Dam is a concrete double curvature arch dam on the Lima River. It is located in the municipality Ponte da Barca, in Viana do Castelo District, Portugal. The dam lies in Peneda-Gerês National Park close to the border with Spain. The reservoir created by the dam is known as Alto Lindoso reservoir or Lindoso reservoir.

History

Construction of the dam began in 1983. On 15 August 1991 the land behind the dam lying in Spain was compulsorily acquired by Portuguese company EDP, based on an old deal between dictators General Franco of Spain and António de Oliveira Salazar of Portugal. Residents of the five villages which were going to be drowned by the dam, Aceredo, Buscalque, O Bao, A Reloeira and Lantemil, supported by left-leaning political parties, immediately began protests against the building of the dam, including a ten-day hunger strike. In the end, with no option but to move, the residents of Aceredo relocated bodies from their cemetery, and a historic church was moved to a different town. Some moved to nearby villages, others far away.
The dam was completed in 1992 and drowned the five villages. It is owned by Companhia Portuguesa de Produção de Electricidade. The dam is used for power production.

Dam

Alto Lindoso Dam is tall and long double curvature arch dam with a crest altitude of. The width at the base is . The volume of the dam is. The dam contains two shaft spillways with three gates each and two bottom outlets (combined maximum discharge /s.

Reservoir

At full reservoir level of the reservoir of the dam has a surface area of and its total capacity is. Its active capacity is. Minimum operating level is. With the of water, 224.6 GWh of electricity can be produced.
The formerly drowned village of Aceredo in 2022 emerged again after prolonged drought.

Power plant

The pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant went operational in 1992. It is owned by CPPE, but operated by EDP. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 630 MW. Its average annual generation is somewhat more than 900 GWh.
The power station contains 2 Francis turbine-generators of 317 MW each in an underground powerhouse below the surface. The turbine rotates at 214.3 rpm. The minimum hydraulic head is, the maximum. Maximum flow per turbine is /s.
As lower reservoir for Alto Lindoso the reservoir of Touvedo dam is used, which is connected via a tailrace tunnel with a length of.