It is located on the Coca River in Napo Province, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Quito.

[3][5] Over the years, China provided $19 billion in the form of loans to Ecuador for the construction of "bridges, highways, irrigation, schools, health clinics and a half dozen dams" including the Coca Codo Sinclair dam.

[2] In December 2018, 7,648 large and small cracks were identified in the generator hall and in surrounding equipment.

[2] The cracks were first discovered in 2014 but the full extent of them is unknown as a thorough assessment would include deconstructing portions of the power plant which is cost prohibitive.

[6] After the dam became operational, its reservoir caused regressive erosion upstream and water absent of sediment released from the dam has caused high rates of erosion downstream which likely led to two oil spills after pipelines along the river lost their footings.