Proyecto hidroeléctrico Portezuelo del Viento, Planned hydroelectric project in Mendoza, Argentina
Portezuelo del Viento is a planned hydroelectric facility on the Rio Grande river in Mendoza Province, western Argentina. The project calls for a dam and turbines designed to harness the river's flow for power generation.
Feasibility studies for this site date back to the 1950s, making it one of Argentina's longest-running energy proposals. Decades later, a coordination body was set up to manage the competing water rights of the provinces along the river.
The project has triggered a public debate across several Argentine provinces, since controlling the Rio Grande's flow affects farming, drinking water, and daily life downstream. The planned displacement of the village of Las Loicas has become the most visible human dimension of that debate.
The site is not open to the public, as the project is still in a planning phase with no construction completed. Those interested in following its progress can check with local government offices in Mendoza city.
Although the project has been discussed for over 70 years, not a single structure has been built at the site yet. The reservoir it would create is designed to flood the current location of Las Loicas, a village that has not yet been relocated.
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