Brasilia, Brazil – The Brazilian government on June 3 announced its Energy Expansion Plan 2020, which envisions construction of 30 hydroelectric plants in the next nine years. The first costs were estimated at $120 billion USD.
The Energy Expansion Plan 2020 was made public by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The plan also includes construction of wind turbines moved by biomass energy and expansion of total demand for ethanol, which fuels more than 90 percent of the current Brazilian automotive fleet.
The announcement took place days after the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) granted approval, with some conditions, for construction of the controversial Belo Monte Dam in the Xingu River.
Amazon Watch’s Brazil Program Coordinator Christian Poirier told OOSKAnews that the Amazon watershed is under grave assault as the Brazilian government plans to build over 60 large dams on the river system in the coming years.
“In a ill-conceived attempt to meet its growing energy demands, as its economy rapid grows, the Brazilian government has sought to tap the hydroelectric potential of the Amazon’s major river systems. By implementing massive dam projects in the Amazon without implementing a semblance of socio-environmental safeguards – in fact, violating its own laws and constitution such as those that govern the rights of indigenous peoples – the Brazilian government has provoked intense and welldeserved controversy,” Poirier said.
Of the 30 hydroelectric plants included in the plan, six dams have already been authorized and will be operating by 2018, and the rest are awaiting authorization.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has estimated that domestic and international demand for energy will grow by 4.6 percent per year.
Poirier also expressed concern about Brazil’s discovery of huge off-shore oil resources, which “certainly jeopardize natural coastal hydrological resources like fisheries.”
Poirier added that he was not aware of any dam project in the Amazon that had been properly implemented by the Brazilian government.
“I am aware, however, of a number of social and environmental nightmares caused by dams being built on Brazil’s rivers, such as those of its Madeira River Complex,” he said.
