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Panel 1:
Large Dams and their Alternatives in Brazil
Abstracts of submissions -
Luiz Alberto Machado Fortunato Mr Sadi Baron Mr. Cassio Viotti Prof. Aziz Ab'Saber On the opportunity of the Regional Consultation, this report intends to focus on the Brazilian electric sector expansion requirements, priorities for the future power supply and the proposition for a socio-environmental approach associated to the implementation and operation of electric power generation and transmission developments. It is extremely relevant to clarify the central role of hydro-electricity in the national electric system as well as the economic, social and environmental commitments involved in those projects' implementation. Over the last decades, Brazil has been deploying great efforts toward development, aiming at the innovation of its economic and social structures and the enhancement of its population's life quality. Besides its continental size and considerable unexploited natural resources, Brazil presents a social and economic structure marked by expressive population growth and by persistent levels of poverty, illiteracy and social inequality. Electric power is an essential input for modern production processes. In any developing society its use is also generally associated with increasing the per capita income and enhancing the quality of life, due to better housing, health and education levels. Within civil society, government and corporate sectors, on the other hand, there is a noticeable concern with the adoption of sustainable development principles and its counterpart in practices that take into account the defence of social and environmental issues in policies for the country's economic growth. According to recent forecasts, per capita electric power consumption levels in Brazil will still remain far below those in more developed societies, even if one considers their energy conservation programs. Therefore, it will probably be necessary to meet a significant increase in electric power demand, and consequently, to increase its production. It is recognized that the implementation of electric power supply projects bring about sometimes considerable impacts on the physical, biotic, socio-economic and cultural systems of the sites and regions in which they are built. The discussion on social and environmental aspects of electrical projects in Brazil has gained importance over the last fifteen years, as well as the institutionalization of National Environmental Policy. The environmental licensing of projects is operating all over the country. Within the sector's structures, the treatment of the socio-environmental aspects of projects has evolved towards compliance with national and sectoral standards of the environmental policy and towards the implementation of socio-environmental management systems. Hydro power is the most important primary source for electric its generation due to the potential amount available and to its economic attractiveness. Moreover, it is a renewable source, not dependent on conjunctural price increases or supply interruptions. The technology for its development is altogether domestically available, with a very low import ratio. The hydro-electric prevalence and the existence of an evidently competitive hydro-based potential makes the Brazilian generating system different from that of any other country in the world. The hydro-electric share in the Brazilian installed capacity has grown from 84% (8.7 GW) in 1970 to 88% (27 GW) in 1980, 91% (44.9 GW) in 1990 and 91% (56.0 GW) in 1998. The Brazilian Inter-Connected Electric System is segmented today in two distinct systems. The South/Southeast/Central-Western Inter-Connected System, with an installed capacity of 44,706 MW in December 1998, considering only 50% of the Itaipu Hydro Electric Plant (6,300 MW), has 194 hydro-electric plants (41,102 MW - 92%) and 25 thermal electric plants (3,604 MW - 8%). The installed hydro electric capacity of this system represents 69% of the country's total in operation, with a surveyed potential of about 45 GW, to be developed. The expansion of the hydro-based power supply in that region is evolving from 90% in 1999 (43,356 MW) to 79% in 2008 (61,469 MW). The Inter-Connected North/Northeast System, corresponding to the markets of the Lower Tocantins River Basin, Belem, Tucurui Hydro Electric Plant influence area and the Northeastern Region, with an installed capacity of 14,716 MW, has 17 hydro-electric plants (14,417 MW - 98%) and 3 thermal electric plants (299 MW - 2%). The expansion of the hydro-based power supply in that region is mainly focused on the Northern region, due to the scarcity of hydro-based supply at competitive prices in the Northeastern region. The hydro source share in 1999 is 98% (14,429 MW), decreasing to 91% in 2008 (22,696 MW). The installed hydro-electric capacity in this System represents 24% of the country's total in operation, with a regional surveyed potential of about 61 GW to be developed, considering, in the Northern case, the Tocantins/Araguaia, Xingu and Tapajos river basins. According to the Decennial Expansion Plan (1999-2008) addressing the electric power market, and the forecasts of the reference scenario, during the first four years of that horizon, from 2,300 MW to 4,600 MW will be added annually to the system. This means that the Sector must make an effort to keep the start-up schedule of about 68 new generation plants through 2002, or the quality and continuity of electric power supply to the consumer market will be affected. The same forecasts point to the necessary investment of about R$7,500 million p.a. The Sector's experience on large hydro-power plants implementation and operation as well as the above mentioned development of the discussion on the effects of that process on the Brazilian society, have helped to develop capability in the electric power utilities to address these projects' social and environmental aspects. From a broader perspective, based on the issues of expansion planning and on the basic principles to be followed by all utilities, support instruments have been developed for the internalization of social and environmental issues, thus, integrating them in to all hydro plant planning and implementation procedures, following the sector's 1991 socio-environmental policy guidelines on the Second Environmental Master Plan. Reparations and
Indemnification for Losses Suffered by Dam-Affected Populations The First National Conference of Dam-Affected People took place in Brasília, from 19-21 April, 1989. At that time, people from throughout the country decided to join together in a National Movement of Dam-Affected People. Since then, MAB has insisted that the Government and the energy companies, responsible for the implantation of large hydroelectric dams, take responsibility to provide reparations and/or indemnification to dam-affected people for losses they were obliged to suffer. The nearly-always irresponsible construction of large dams which marks the history of Brazilian hydroelectricity, has imposed inmeasurable and irreparable losses, through social, environmental, economic, and cultural impacts on local populations. Data from Eletrobras registered in 1987 that 850 million hectares of land had been flooded by dams in Brazil. Among the serious problems which we are faced with today are:
The impacts of this lack of responsibility toward society are evident. Two million people have been impacted by large dams and forced to abandon their lands and homes. The population displaced by dams have not had their problems totally resolved. The gains of the movement have not reached all. Many have not received resettlements, and others received indemnification totally inadequate to buy new land. It is not enough to "learn from the past". The errors of the past must be acknowledged and responsibility for them must be assumed. It is ethically unacceptabe, socially injust, and economically irrational to begin new large dam projects before the social and environmental problems of earlier dams are thoroughly evaluated and resolved. Nor is it sufficient to recognize and assume responsibility for past errors. It is also necessary to repair damages, or provide indemnification for them. MAB, in the name of Brazilian dam-affected people, has called on the Brazilian Government to not begun construction of a single dam until the critical situation facing dam-affected populations is resolved by being repaired or through compensation. Below are the principal ongoing problems at some representative dams, already constructed or currently in construction, where problems remain unresolved, and where the government has not fully complied with agreements with dam-affected populations. Itaparica Dam, São Francisco River The Federal Government refused to conclude resettlements, and proposes to substitute compensation - which will only generate more unemployment, hunger, and violence, negatively affecting regional development - for the irrigation project it signed an agreement to provide in 1986. CHESF (São Francisco Valley Hydroelectric Company) and the GERPI (Executive Group of the Brazilian Presidency) have, without any consultation or negotiation with organizations representing resettled populations, have been redirecting resources originally slated to finance the resettlement program and using them for compensations - which, in practical terms means ending resettlements. They have refused to clarify how those resources allocated in the 1998 budget have been spent. Facing this situation we ask for;
Castanhão Dam, Ceará state Construction is behind schedule on the dam itself, the new city, the resettlement area, compensation, and complementary engineering works. Of the $25 million in the budget of the National Department (DNOCs), 55% of the compensations to be paid, some $13 million have still not been disbursed;
Tucuruí Dam, Tocantins River Note: The tragic situation of this dam will be the subject of a Special Submission Serra da Mesa Dam, Tocantins River
Uruguay River Basin (Itá and Machadinho Dams) The privatization process worsened problems of farmers affected by dams, and there are still outstanding issues in the Uruguay River basin:
Isolated island dwellers of the archipelago of the Paraná River – Itaipu and Ilha Grande Dams - These people were expelled 18 years ago from their homes on islands in the Paraná River. Some were resettled in distant areas without any infrastructure. Most of the estimated 1,500 families received no compensation, causing serious social problems in the past few years; - the Federal Government created the Ilha Grande National Park by decree, without any discussion as to the legimitate owners of the islands. The movement for justice for the island dwellers is still, after two decades, demanding fair compensation for families that suffered economic and social damages. They demand rebates on land taxes which the island dwellers paid, despite being prevented from producing and from living on the islands. Recommendations: The presentation of these situations described above and the public discussion of these problems should contribute to advance the debate on methodologies, modalities, and timeframes for reparations and/or compensation and the solving of the ongoing social and environmental problems. The WCD should contribute in this sense to:
WATER FOR LIFE, NOT FOR DEATH!!! 14 June, 1999 Large dams and power
production – the Brazilian experience Dam building activity in Brazil started more than 120 years ago in the draught-prone Northeastern region of the country. The Brazilian Register of Large Dams has now 823 entries. About one half of them are multiple-purpose dams for municipal water supply, irrigation, cattle raising and fisheries situated in the above-mentioned region. The country is well-known for its large rivers. Actually almost two-thirds of the whole territory is comprised in two of the largest river basins in the world, namely the Amazon and the Plata. Several tributaries in these two basins are among the largest rivers in the world. On the other hand, the country has scarce fossil fuel sources. This fact explains the rapid development of the country's hydropower potential, which now supplies about 95 % of national electric power demand. During the seventies and eighties, there was a great development in the engineering and construction technology for dams in this country. At the same time heavy industries were installed so that Brazil is now self-sufficient in this type of facility for power production, whereas with respect to coal, gas and specially nuclear technologies the country still has to rely on imports and increasingly limited technology-transfer from developed countries. The Brazilian Register shows 239 dams for power production mainly. However, the total installed capacity of 61.000 MW represents only one third of the total estimated hydropower potential. There are also a few cases of dams built to improve navigation, as there are cases of dams built for other purposes such as to avoid sea-water intrusion or improving landscaping and recreation. It is important to mention that the integrated operational management of hydropower system provided for additional optimization and gains in energy production and flood control. Most of the dams have been built by Government-owned utilities following a centralized planning and are being financed by the Federal Government and foreign loans. In the last decade there has been a sharp decline in this field of activity due to financial constraints. Besides there was a loss in the planning efficiency either due to too optimist demand estimates or to too early implementation of new power plants, which resulted in excessive supply capacity. Another important factor was the sharp cost increase mainly due to inadequate bidding procedures and construction time overruns with consequent but unexpectedly high interests affecting original cost estimates. Coal-fired thermal and nuclear power plants under construction in the same period showed an even worse performance. Since 1994 however there has been a firm trend towards privatisation. It is expected that the private enterprises will take on with the construction new hydropower plants since no other energy source is believed to comply with the long-term demand forecast. Energy conservation will also play a very important role in this respect. Since the early eighties when the national environmental policy was implemented through a law approved by the Congress, which was later reinforced by a decision from the National Environmental Council, all new dam projects have to be submitted to environmental impact assessment and licensing. The 1988 Constitution introduced even stricter regulations to be complied with such as the need for previous Congress approval of any project to affect historical indigenous people homelands. It also introduced the possibility of the affected comunities to share the revenues of power production through finantial compensation related to the respective extension of the flooded territory. These legal provisons and an ethical recognition of issues like public involvement in decision-making, adequate treatment of social impacts, biodiversity conservation, have caused deep changes in procedures related to dam implementation, since the early stages of planning to negotiations with stakeholders and monitoring the environmental effects of dams. As a result, some projects have been reviewed and a totally new approach is being used as to population resettlement and other important issues. In 1997 the National Water Resources Policy was approved by the Congress bringing new instruments for the environmental management of river basins and stressing the importance of decentralised planning and management and public participation. New negotiation and decision-making instances will be created therefore improving the potential of conflict resolution and benefits with respect to new dams to be implemented. It is also important to mention that new possibilities are opened for sustainable management of the natural resources along rivers and reservoirs. The Brazilian Committee on Dams is following and consolidating the experience gained in this process promoting its dissemination among its nearly 1.000 members, along the same lines proposed by the International Committee on Large Dams. Since the late seventies the subject is on the agenda of national seminars on dams which take place every one-and-a half year, with results and discussions being published regularly. As it is well known from the history of human kind, water availability , among all natural factors, is undoubtedly the most relevant and the role of dams in providing its regular and reliable supply will continue to be of importance. A review on regional dams and reservoirs
in Brasil The situation in Brazil is quite understandable, as related to dams built in rivers throughout different areas and natural domains, at different scales. Considering that it is a territory of large spatial dimensions, extremely well endowed with tropical and sub-tropical humid climates, with a predominance of perennial exorreic drainages (88%) projected by tablelands and lower plateaus, the systematic use of such water resources for energy purposes should be expected. At the end of the century, Brazil has reached about 85% of the energy production - needed for its development and modernization - through dams and hydropower plants. The remaining 15% are related to the damming process in the dry Northeast, where seasonal, intermittent drainages dominate. In this smaller number are also included the dams for river regulation and drinking water reservoirs. Paradoxically, from an historical perspective, the dams initiated and multiplied in the late 19th century and early 20th century, for different reasons, either in the dry Northeast or in the tropical humid Southeast. More recently -especially in the second half of this century - dams were built in all the geoecological and anthropic spaces in the country, covering sections of medium and large rivers, from the Amazon to Rio Grande do Sul. The know-how developed by Brazilian engineering in dam building is extraordinary. However, there was a relative delay in the methodologies for physical, ecological and social impacts forecasting. In the last decades - thanks to the requirements and pressures from the environmental sector of the World Bank - professionals, scientists and government became aware of the urgent need of assessing the impacts of development projects. The main groups (groupings) of dams in Brazil can be identified, albeit tentatively and provisionally. The following classification is related to the various domains - morphoclimatic, hidrological, ecological and anthropo-geographical - where these reservoirs were built. For example, the dams in the "mares de morros" (hilly areas), dams in the dry Northeast, dams in the Amazon. There is a wealth of isolated observations on all large dams in Brazil; meanwhile, information was lost on small- and medium-size reservoir. From the information recovered, there are typical cases of reservoirs representing regional models, with paradigmatic forms and attributes. The typology that we established through regional comparative studies, is the following:
Copyright © 1998-2001 The World Commission on Dams |
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