Picote Dam

Picote Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Douro, located in the municipality Miranda do Douro, in Bragança District, Portugal.Construction of the dam began in 1953. The dam was completed in 1958. It is owned by Companhia Portuguesa de Produção de Electricidade . Picote Dam was the first dam constructed by Portugal on the Douro.DamPicote Dam is a 100 m tall and 139 m long arch dam with a crest altitude of 480 m. The volume of the dam is 205,000 m³. The spillway is located on its crest and is controlled by four tainter gates. It has a maximum discharge of 11000m3/s while one bottom outlet can discharge up to 600m3/s.ReservoirAt full reservoir level of 471 m the reservoir of the dam has a surface area of 2.44 km² and its total capacity is 63 mio. m³ .Power plant Picote IThe power plant Picote I is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station with a nameplate capacity of 195 MW. Its average annual generation is 868,6 (838, 941, or 1,038) GWh. The power station contains three 65 MW Francis turbine-generators in an underground powerhouse.