Hydroelectric Dam February 3 (El Chaparral). The February 3 Hydroelectric Dam harnesses the Torola River in northern San Miguel. Many Salvadorans still call it El Chaparral, the name the project carried through years of construction delays and public debate.
The dam’s story connects the rivers that help power El Salvador with a question that comes up whenever the country builds something this big. Who benefits, and what changes for the people nearby?
Construction began during the administration of President Elías Antonio Saca and stretched across four presidencies. The plant began selling electricity in October 2023, about 15 years after the project got underway.
Where El Chaparral Sits on the Torola River
You’ll find the dam on the Torola River near San Luis de la Reina, in the northern part of San Miguel department. CEL’s project records also identify neighboring Carolina as part of the site.
CEL, short for Comisión Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa, runs the plant. Its name can make the location sound confusing, but the structure itself stands on the Torola, a tributary of the Lempa.
The dam holds back river water to create a reservoir. That storage lets operators manage when water passes through the generating equipment, within the limits set by river flows and reservoir levels.
Why Construction Took About 15 Years
El Salvador launched the project in 2008 with the Italian contractor Astaldi. Tropical Storm Agatha damaged the site in 2010, delaying construction and forcing a redesign before the work could move ahead.
In 2012, CEL and Astaldi agreed to end the contract, and CEL agreed to pay the company $108 million. The deal drew scrutiny while the country was still waiting for a working power plant.
The original budget was about $220 million. At the inauguration, President Nayib Bukele put the cost at roughly $800 million. An investigation by Revista Voz Pública reported a higher total of $991 million.
You’ll see two October dates in accounts of the opening. CEL records October 1, 2023, as the start of commercial operations. The public inauguration took place later that month, on October 19.
How Much Electricity the Dam Can Produce
Water released from the reservoir spins turbines, which drive generators. CEL lists 66 megawatts of installed capacity at the main plant and another 1.42 megawatts from an auxiliary unit.
Megawatts tell you how much power a plant can deliver at a given moment. Gigawatt-hours tell you how much electricity it generates over time. CEL projected an annual contribution of 232 gigawatt-hours.
The actual amount of electricity produced depends on river inflows, how much water is stored, and how the plant is operated. Looking at one month of generation shows the dam’s contribution for that time, while a full year gives a bigger picture.
February 3 Hydroelectric Dam: What Changed for Nearby Communities
For residents near the reservoir, the project also raised questions about compensation. At the time of the inauguration, El Diario de Hoy reported that CEL still owed surrounding communities 19 promised public works.
The grid measures El Chaparral’s impact by the electricity it delivers. But for people living near the reservoir, progress meant counting how many promised projects their communities had actually received by the time the plant opened.
A dam can start sending power to the national grid while neighbors are still waiting for the people behind the project to keep the promises they made during construction. That gap is part of what daily life is like in El Salvador for communities near big public projects.
