On December 3 (local time), the Minas-San Francisco Hydropower Project contracted by HE in Ecuador completed the closure of residual segments of diversion tunnel cofferdam after consecutive 18.5 hours of working, and the gate of diversion tunnel was smoothly closed, so that the dam began to impound.

The Minas Hydropower Plant is the third largest hydropower plant in Ecuador. Closing the gate of the diversion tunnel is not only an important point of the dam construction, but also a prerequisite for the diversion tunnel impoundment and the trial operation of units, which has great significance to the overall construction of the Project. The Minas Hydropower Project Department affiliated to HE has actively arranged for the subcontractor — Sinohydro Bureau 8 Co., Ltd. — to prepare a scientific plan for the dam impoundment and construction in advance and put forward that the closure of the diversion tunnel gate should be carried out in strict accordance with the plan and the requirement of ensuring continuous flow downstream of the dam specified in local laws for the purpose of ecological protection. Under the strong collaboration among the owner, the supervisor and the subcontractor, HE successfully completed the closure of the residual segments of the diversion tunnel cofferdam and the closure of the diversion tunnel gate.