El Chocón

The El Chocón Dam is the fourth of the five dams on the Limay River in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia, at above mean sea level. El Chocón is on the Limay River at about 80km upstream of its confluence with the Neuquén River.El Chocón is used to regulate the flow of the Limay River, for irrigation, and for the generation of hydroelectricity. Its power station is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Patagonia, with a capacity of. It was built by the state-owned company Hidronor . It started operating in 1973, and achieved full capacity in 1978. In the period 1974–1995 it produced an annual average of. In 1993 it was privatized, with an exploitation concession granted to Hidroeléctrica El Chocón S. A.While the formal name of the project is Embalse Ezequiel Ramos Mexía, in common use it ended up acquiring the name of the settlement that served as the construction's base of operations, Villa El Chocón .El Chocón is part of a larger engineering scheme that also includes the Cerros Colorados Complex, on the Neuquén River. The Hydroelectric Complex which holds El Chocón and Arroyito Hydroelectric Power Plants, is located in the region known as Comahue, which is formed by the Argentine provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén and the southern area of the Buenos Aires and La Pampa provinces.