The Cuervo plant is the first of the three hydroelectric plants that make up the Energía Austral project. It will be located approximately 45 km northeast of Puerto Aysén at the source of the Cuervo River, in the area where the Yulton and Meullín Lakes are also located, through to the river’s mouth in the Aysén Fjord. Cuervo will, therefore, be a plant with a reservoir that will harness the hydroelectric potential of the Cuervo River.

The project envisages the construction of two concrete dams on each of the branches of the Cuervo River. They will form a reservoir linking the Yulton and Meullín Lakes, flooding an area of 5,863 hectares. The plant will have an installed capacity of 640 MW which will be injected into the Central Interconnected Grid (SIC).

The Cuervo plant represents an investment of US$733 million. Its construction will take some 56 months and it will have an indefinite useful life.  It will be built on land belonging to the company without human settlements and will not, therefore, require the relocation of communities. Energía Austral also has all the water rights needed for the plant’s development.

The specific conditions of the Aysén Region and its inhabitants have been taken into account in the plant’s design and rigorous efforts have been made to ensure the most appropriate project with consideration for the area’s environmental and geographic characteristics and those of its communities.

The project has also been developed taking into account the guidelines of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), ensuring that it is in accordance with both Chilean legislation and the highest international environmental and safety standards.

In addition, the project will maintain an ecological flow into the Cuervo River of 3 m3/second of water at the base of the dam through infrastructure located immediately downriver from the two dams.