Ministry of Mines and Energy: Indigenous Lands Could Hold 40 Hydroelectric Plants

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An estimate of the Ministry of Mines and Energy shows that Brazilian indigenous lands have the potential to be home to approximately 40 hydroelectric plants with the capacity to generate a total of 28,000 megawatts (MW).

This 28,000 MW would be equivalent to just over a quarter (27.2 percent) of the installed capacity of the more than 217 hydroelectric plants currently in operation in the country (102,998 MW).

In early February, the federal government submitted a bill to Congress that regulates the exploitation of indigenous lands. The text would allow the construction of hydroelectric dams, oil and gas exploration, and activities such as mining and extraction, provided they are authorized by Congress.

The Constitution provides for the possibility of economic activities on indigenous lands, but only after there has been legislative regulation.

Experts on indigenous issues heard by the G1 news site criticized the government’s project. In their opinion, works such as hydroelectric dams could lead to permanent negative effects on the lives of the communities affected in these areas.

Financial compensation

The government bill proposes the payment of a financial contribution to the indigenous communities affected by the projects. In the case of hydroelectric plants, the payment to the Indians would represent 0.7 percent of the value of the energy produced.

“If all [40] projects are feasible, we estimate that the affected indigenous communities will be paid approximately R$60 million per year,” the Ministry of Mines and Energy told G1.

The R$60 million estimated by the Ministry would be equivalent to 12 percent of the National Indian Foundation’s budget for 2020 (R$495 million).

Following a request from G1, the Brazilian Association of Large Energy Consumers and Free Consumers (ABRACE) simulated its calculation using the example of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, located in Pará.

According to the ABRACE, should Belo Monte be located on indigenous land and therefore required to pay financial participation following the criteria proposed in the government’s bill, it would have to disburse R$22.3 million per year.

Impact

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, these 40 hydroelectric plants, if built, would cover “a very small portion” of these indigenous lands – about one percent of the total area.

“The hydroelectric plants are mostly located in the Amazon Basin, with about 20 plants, six in the Araguaia basin, two in the Tocantins basin, two in the São Francisco basin, two in the Uruguay basin and one in the Paraná basin,” the ministry said.

Although the numbers show a reduced impact of these hydroelectric plants, according to Juliana de Paula Batista, an attorney with the Social and Environmental Institute (ISA), projects like these could threaten the survival of indigenous communities.

The Social and Environmental Institute is a non-profit organization that works in the area of environment and human rights and has a specific program aimed at indigenous peoples.

“A hydroelectric plant attracts 5,000 to 20,000 workers. How will the Indians, who are highly vulnerable communities with a specific culture, live together within their territory with 5,000, 15,000, 20,000 workers? Imagine the social, cultural and environmental impact of all this”, said Juliana Batista, who has been working with the indigenous issue for ten years.

The attorney mentioned as an example of the effects of the construction of the Belo Monte plant on the city of Altamira, in Pará.

A study by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), released in 2017, pointed to Altamira as the most violent city in the country and showed that the increase in crime was related to the population explosion and the disorderly growth spurred by the construction of the hydroelectric plant.

“It doesn’t matter how much it is going to affect. It matters whether these indigenous communities will be able to sustain their physical and cultural survival [after the construction of the plants],” she said, in reference to the Ministry’s estimate that only one percent of the total area of indigenous lands would be covered by the plants.

Veto power

For Renato Sztutman, professor of the department of anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP), even if it actually reaches the indigenous people, the millionaire financial contribution planned by the government will not offset the losses that the communities should suffer.

“The benefits [with the implementation of hydroelectric plants on indigenous lands] are certainly much lower than the damage,” Sztutman said. According to Sztutman, interventions such as diverting the course of a river, required in this type of work, “radically change the environment” where these communities live, resulting in a reaction in the soil and in the availability of food.

The professor further criticized the fact that the government’s bill limits the Indians’ power to veto the ventures.

According to the bill, the communities will only have the power to veto prospecting on their lands.

In the case of hydroelectric plants, oil and gas exploration, and mining, the government will be entitled to forward the request for authorization to Congress even if the Indians oppose it when consulted.

“The least the indigenous people should have is the power of veto,” he said.

Source: G1