Protests after Chile backs giant dams in Patagonia's valleys

Activists fear ecological haven will be destroyed but government says project is vital for economic growth
Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk 10 May 11;

Chilean authorities have approved a £1.8bn plan to dam two rivers in Patagonia for hydroelectricity, triggering angry protests and claims that swathes of pristine wilderness will be destroyed.

The HidroAysén project envisages five dams to tap the Baker and Pascua rivers, an isolated area of fjords and valleys, and generate 2.75 gigawatts of power for Chile's booming economy.

The government has championed the dams as vital to poverty alleviation and economic growth, but public opinion has split, with many saying the project is unnecessary and will devastate an ecological haven.

Police arrested dozens of protesters and clashed with hundreds more in Coihaique, a Patagonian city where on Monday a government-appointed commission voted 11 to one in favour of the dams after a three-year environmental review.

The commissioners were kept indoors for their own safety as people threw rocks and battled police with water cannon and tear gas. Similar scenes unfolded in the capital, Santiago.

The Patagonia Without Dams advocacy group accused the commissioners of conflicts of interest and said the project was "destructive and illegal". It said the dams would flood at least 5,600 hectares of rare forest ecosystems, river valleys and farmland.

"We are outraged. We are calling on President [Sebastián] Piñera to overturn this decision and protect Patagonia," said Patricio Rodrigo, the group's executive secretary. Critics say the project would also drown the habitat of the endangered southern huemul deer, a national symbol.

An Ipsos poll said 61% of Chileans opposed the dams. The polarisation offered a sharp contrast to the nation's feelgood glow after last year's rescue of 31 trapped miners, an operation which boosted the conservative president's ratings.

The environment minister, María Ignacia Benítez, denied the commission's findings were a stitch-up in favour of energy corporations and banks which would profit from the project. The "very demanding" investigation adhered to laws and took into account the environmental impact, she told Radio Agricultura.

HidroAysén argued that the dams would provide cheap and clean electricity in comparison to oil and coal. Chile recently approved three coal plants, including the biggest one in Latin America.

The interior minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, told reporters: "The most important thing is that our country needs to grow, to progress, and for this we need energy."

Some analysts say Chile will need to triple its energy capacity in the next 15 years to feed fast-growing industries and cities. Though rich in copper and other minerals, the country imports 97% of its fossil fuels and relies mainly on hydropower for electricity, leaving it vulnerable to oil shocks and drought.

The council of ministers is expected to nod through the proposed dams but activists hope to win key concessions in the environmental impact assessment for the next phase of the project: 1,200-mile transmission lines, estimated to cost £2.3bn, to bring electricity from Patagonia to Santiago.

That review, due in December, could sharply restrict the number of lines or alternatively open Patagonia to multiple lines, roads and possibly more dams.

Much of the controversy hinges on whether Chile has viable alternative means to boost power capacity. With nuclear power widely considered anathema, some tout the Atacama desert as a source of immense solar thermal production, especially given its relative proximity to mines and industry.

"Numerous studies have shown that Chile can sustainably and safely meet its energy needs through increased investments in non-conventional renewable energy and energy efficiency, with less environmental, social and economic costs than HidroAysén," said Berklee Lowrey-Evans, of the International Rivers group.

However Maria Isabel Gonzalez, former head of Chile's National Energy Commission, rebuked foreign critics of the plan. "Chile is still a poor country, with 2.5 million poor people, and to overcome poverty we need energy, and for that reason we need to develop our own resources," she told AP. "It would be very selfish on the part of the rich countries to say, 'Look how they're destroying these uninhabited pristine areas.'"

Dam project spells disaster in Chile's Patagonia: critics
Miguel Sanchez Yahoo News 11 May 11;

SANTIAGO (AFP) – Approval to build five dams in Chile's Patagonia region will flood nearly 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) and do irreversible damage to one of the world's last virgin territories, environmentalists warned Tuesday.

A regional environmental panel approved the HidroAysen project on Monday, as thousands of protesters took to the streets to picket the massive construction effort.

The two-billion-euro ($2.9 billion) project involves the construction of five hydroelectric power stations, two along the Baker River and three on the Pascua River, in an area some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles south of Santiago).

Expected to take 50 years to build, the project would generate 2.75 gigawatts of electricity -- or 20 percent of current capacity -- to help meet Chile's energy needs, which are expected to increase 80 percent by 2025.

Environmentalists are preparing a legal battle to fight the project, scheduled to begin in 2014 in the wet and green mountainous region.

If the project goes ahead, Chile's southern Patagonia region would be "unavailable for use for 40 to 60 years, and then abandoned, leaving it an environmental disaster," Greenpeace's Chile director, Matias Asun, told AFP.

Flora and fauna studies underestimated the impact of the project at a microscopic level and on mammals like Chilean deer and protected native bird species, Asun charged.

The Pascua and Baker rivers are the largest in Chile, with crystal waters fed by thousand-year old glaciers.

The project also includes construction of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of high-tension transmission lines and pylons that will carry electricity across nine regions of the South American country.

The path of the transmission lines has not yet been set, but it will not be a straight line, explains HidroAysen's executive director, Daniel Fernandez, adding that parts of the line will be underwater to avoid national parks and scenic areas.

The project will require more than 5,000 workers who will be living in the remote area of Aysen for more than 10 years, effectively doubling the population of the region. possible to counteract the impact of this project on tourism and the area arounThe area attracts thousands of visitors a year.

"It will be virtually imd Cochrane, whose population will double to 4,000 inhabitants," said Green Party president Alejandro San Martin.

The project is a joint venture between the Spanish company Endesa -- controlled by the Italian firm Enel -- and the Chilean company Colbun, and is expected to generate 2.75 gigawatts of electricity, about 20 percent of Chile's current capacity. Chile's energy needs are expected to increase by 80 percent by 2025.

Its supporters say the project is vital for the future of Chile, whose economy is expected to grow at a 6 percent annual rate over the coming years, led by the mining sector and the boom in copper prices. Chile produces about a third of the world's supply of copper.

"We need cheap energy, and today, Chile is paying for the wrong decisions of the past -- double the cost of energy compared with the rest of Latin America," said Chilean cabinet minister Cristian Larroulet.

HidroAysen opponents note that the big mining companies are all in the north of the country, and say they don't understand why the south must "sacrifice" to feed demand in the mining sector. Other energy sources, like wind and solar, are also available, though they are more expensive, opponents say.

Chile approves massive hydroelectric project
Yahoo News 10 May 11;

SANTIAGO (AFP) – A controversial $3.2 billion hydroelectric project billed as key to satisfying Chile's growing energy needs but potentially an environmental concern, got a green light Monday.

A regional environmental panel in the cool and wet south of the South American country approved the massive HidroAysen project as thousands of protesters took to the streets to picket against it.

The two-billion-euro project entails the construction of five hydroelectric power stations, two along the Baker River and three on the Pascua River, in an area some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles south of Santiago).

Expected to take 50 years to build, it would generate 2.75 gigawatts of electricity -- or 20 percent of current capacity -- to help meet Chile's energy needs, which are expected to increase 80 percent by 2025.

Approval by the regional environmental panel had been widely expected despite stiff opposition from green activists seeking to protect the Patagonia region.

Thousands took to the streets around the country to protest against the project, and in the capital Santiago police used water hoses and tear gas to disperse around a thousand protesters and said they arrested about a dozen people.

Other demonstrations were reported in Valdivia and Temuco in the south and Valparaiso in the west, where police also intervened to disperse the crowds.

The paths used for some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of power cables and towers are still subject to a separate environmental review and could require another $4 billion dollars in investment.

A coalition called "Chilean Patagonia Without Dams" contends the project is unnecessary and would endanger pristine forests in a region that includes widely admired glaciers and lakes.

Opponents claim it will sully wilderness areas of Patagonia, flooding some 5,900 hectares (14,000 acres).

They argue that the energy would be used mainly for the mining sector, that the environmental review has been inadequate, and that Chile should pursue less damaging energy sources such as solar and wind.

An opinion poll in April showed 61 percent of Chileans opposed the project.

But the consortium of Chile's Endesa and the Spanish firm Colbun SA has launched its own public relations effort, claiming the project would produce clean, renewable energy and reduce demand for imported fossil fuels.

President Sebastian Pinera said Chile, where economic growth is estimated at 6.5 percent and electricity is rationed, has few alternatives, especially with nuclear power being reconsidered in the wake of the disaster in Japan.

"If HidroAysen is approved it would be 100 percent in compliance with environmental legislation," Pinera said over the weekend. "If we don't have hydroelectric energy, there will be more coal-fired power plants."