It is located in the municipality Vila Nova de Gaia, in Porto District, Portugal.

The spillway with 8 gates is part of the dam body (maximum discharge 26,000 m³/s).

[1] At full reservoir level of 13 m (maximum flood level of 21.5 m) the reservoir of the dam has a surface area of 12.98 km2 and a total capacity of 110 mio.

The power station contains 3 Kaplan turbine-generators (horizontal axis) with 39 (36[6]) MW (36.1 MVA) each in a dam powerhouse located on the left side of the dam.

[6] On the left side of the dam is a lock, which can handle ships with the following maximum properties: 83 m in length, 11.40 m on the beam, 3.8 m load-draught and a cargo capacity of 2500 tons.