Brazil reviewing big Amazon hydroelectric plant
Copyright 2001 Reuters
August 3, 2001
BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil's government said this week it had decided to launch environmental impact studies for a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Xingu River in the Amazon state of Para.
Energy Minister Jose Jorge told reporters the dam would cost $3 billion and would become the second-largest hydroelectric dam in the country.
The government has accelerated energy projects because of an acute electricity shortage sparked by critically low water levels at the reserves which power the country's hydroelectric power plants. It has introduced an emergency rationing program to cut 20 percent of consumer's electricity use.
Brazil has faced criticism from environmentalists for wanting to develop energy and infrastructure projects in the Amazon - the world's largest tropical forest.
Jorge said another $2.5 billion would be invested on transmission lines from the new dam. One of the reasons for the current crisis is that the electricity grid between Brazil's industrial south and the northern Amazon with its hundreds of rivers is not properly connected.
The minister said the government is hoping it would be only a minority partner in the dam. It hopes private investors would hold a majority stake in the project.