Decision would involve environmental issues, and, above all, legal safety of bids

The explanations given by government technicians about the change in the location for the construction of the dam for the Jirau Hydroelectric Power Plant, on Madeira River, in Rondonia, did not convince congresspeople who participated, on Wednesday (10), in the public hearing about the subject, which was promoted by the Committee on Financial Oversight and Control.

After winning the bid to construct that power plant, the consortium led by Suez Group (a multinational company from the energy sector), decided to construct the dam 9.2 km downriver to the planned location, to save in excavation costs. The consortium affirms it is only about an axis change, and that all contractual and environmental-impact requirements are being complied with.

Representatives of the National Water Agency (ANA), of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and National Renewable Resources (Ibama) and of the National Agency for Electric Power (Aneel), affirmed that the new location of the dam does not change the requirements established for the consortium.

According to them, the construction should comply with the rules determined in the bidding rules, such as the navigation possibility along Madeira River and the maintenance of the tariffs on the power to be generated. The representative of Aneel, Humberto Cunha, highlighted that the Call for Bids bids the hydraulic potential of a river, and not a specific location for the construction of the plant.

No hindrance
According to the assessment of Deputy Moreira Mendes (PPS-RO), there is no legal hindrance for the location change for the plant, but the companies that lost the bid do not settle for it. According to him, the economic battle among the consortia that applied for the construction work harms Brazil and Rondônia, which need the power to be generated.

"I’m from the Amazon, from Rondonia. I know that river extremely well and can assure that there is no difference between constructing the dam where it was suggested – and not imposed – by Aneel in the Call for Bids and where it is being constructed. By the way, the location they are proposing is more economic and feasible from the environmental standpoint”, he declared.

Legal safety
The author of the bill for Oversight and Control on the Jurau Power Plant (PFC-47/08), Deputy Bruno Araújo (PSDB-PE), affirmed that it is necessary to discuss the principles of legality and legal safety, since the change was authorized after the end of the license procedure.

Bruno Araújo expressed his environmental worry. “That displacement of 9 km has consequences that have never been studied. There is information that there will be a huge increase in the size of the lake to be created by the dam, with a much larger invasion of the waters into Amazon forest. Therefore, we have to discuss the environmental issue, and above all, the legal safety of bids in this country”, he alerted.

The president of Ibama, Roberto Messias Franco, informed that, according to the studies performed by the body, the impact of the different projects is equivalent, that is, the construction location does not make any difference.

Deputy Carlos Willian (PTC-MG) said that he was not convinced by the explanations made by representatives of Ibama and of the Regulation Agencies. According to him, the Call for Bids clearly defines the location for the plant, which was its object.

Report - Cristiane Bernardes
Editing - Renata Tôrres
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda