22 June 2010
The presidents of Brazil and Peru signed on Wednesday an energy integration agreement which includes the construction of hydroelectric plants and interconnections through the Amazon jungle.
Source: Hidrocarburos Bolivia
06.16.2010
The presidents of Brazil and Peru signed on Wednesday an energy integration agreement which includes the construction of hydroelectric plants and interconnections through the Amazon jungle.
The agreement signed by Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Peru’s Alan Garcia, plans to develop hydropower in Peruvian territory with the possibility of transferring the surplus energy to the neighboring country.
The two leaders defended the energy initiatives, which are taking place in the ecologically sensitive Amazon, by claiming that hydropower is the cheapest and most clean source of energy when compared with other forms such as coal or fossil fuels.
“A fundamental project is the electrical integration project which is designed to take advantage of the water coming from the Andes Mountains to power hydroelectric plants”, Garcia said in a joint conference with Lula in the city of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon.
He said that on the area of the Andes, which empties into the Pacific, there is a generation potential of 90,000 megawatts, while in the Amazonian territory 18 times more energy with small hydroelectric plants than what Peru consumes.
Lula added that “the energy generated would cater primarily to the Peruvian people, but with these interconnections it will also be possible to benefit the Brazilian people.”
Garcia clarified that no energy projects will be developed if they cause irreversible damage within the Amazon region.
However, the Peruvian leader insisted that “it would be worse not to follow through with the construction of the hydro plants because, it would then be necessary to go back to relying on coal energy, which would harm the environment more than taking advantage of a small area of the Amazon”.
"We have to put that into perspective, what are the dangers and what are the overwhelming advantages of generating 2,000 to 3,000 megawatts of water compared to using coal or oil or gas, which also damage the ozone layer,” Garcia said.
Lula warned the public that discussions about negative environmental impacts could be used to prevent countries from obtaining the international funding necessary to complete the hydropower projects in the Amazon, which is the world's largest rain forest and home to a third of all global biodiversity.
"We, the Amazonian countries, have to be careful with the debates on energy and environmental issues” said Lula. Every country that plans on constructing hydroelectric plants needs international financial assistance and this discourse is sometimes used to prevent them from getting the funds".
Brazil was immersed in a debate where it confronted the environment with the energy project of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, in the Xingu River in the Amazon, which was under construction despite protests of environmentalists, locals, and indigenous populations.
Peru and Brazil share 2995 miles of border in the Amazon.