2×220 KV GIS SUBSTATION –SAN JOSÉ HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT

As part of the Bolivian government’s policy to diversify the country’s power grid and export its excess electrical energy, the state-owned power company, Ende —with CAF’s [Development Bank of Latin America] fundings—approved the San José hydroelectric project.

The purpose of this project was to increase energy production using the water potential of the upper Chapare river basin, the Málaga and Santa Isabel rivers, and the waters of the Corani reservoir, by means of turbines placed at the Corani and Santa Isabel hydroelectric plants.
The project included the construction of a dam, the Locotal regulating reservoir, the adduction tunnels, the penstock and the powerhouse. It also included the construction of San Jose I and San Jose II hydroelectric power stations, meant to generate 55 MW and 69 MW, respectively, with a total investment of US$252 million.
After a long and demanding selection process involving topmost tier international companies, Ingener was awarded a major turnkey contract for the completion of the 230 kV HV electrical works and the interconnection of the plants to the grid, setting a milestone in its history, as it was its first contract abroad.
The main works carried out included the detailed engineering of the substations, the 230 kV transformers supply, installation and commissioning (2 by power plant), the erection of two SF6-insulated substations (GIS) with four and three bays respectively, protection, communication and control systems and the full execution of the 230 kV transmission line.