The section in which it is located is known as the arribes of Esla, a deep geographic depression caused by the millenary erosion of the river.

It is part of the Saltos del Duero system together with the infrastructures installed in Aldeadávila, Almendra, Castro, Saucelle and Villalcampo.

Soon the engineers of the Sociedad Hispano Portuguesa de Transportes Eléctricos realized that the flows of the Esla river were capable of creating the largest reservoir in Europe at that time (1200 hm³) with a large regulating capacity that would allow winter water to be stored.

This is why in the Agreement of August 11, 1927, signed between Spain and Portugal to regulate the hydroelectric exploitation of the international section of the Douro River, Article 11 stipulates: "The works to be carried out in Spanish territory, directly aimed at the regulation of the Douro in its international section, referred to in Article 10 of the Royal Decree-Law of August 23, 1926, will begin with the construction, on the Esla River, of the dam called Ricobayo, province of Zamora".

However, Decree 1022/1964, of April 15, which approves the articulated text of the State Heritage Law, establishes that no concession can last more than 99 years, so that, regardless of what was agreed at the time by the Government of Felipe González, in any case the State will necessarily and inexcusably regain control of the plant at 00:00 hours on Sunday, February 5, 2034.

Its surface weir, about 700 m long and with a 14% slope, caused serious erosion, as the water filtered through a breach, the land sank and the spillway was consumed 350 m upstream, which meant that between 1933 and 1939 half of the mountain was badly eroded, causing a cazuela 100 m wide and 100 m deep, excavating approximately 1,136,000 m3 of rocks.