Hayley Stuart
In Bolivia, Indigenous groups fear the worst ...

The Bolivian government has revived a long-held plan to build a hydroelectric plant in a corner of the country’s western La Paz department, sparking concerns about the potential displacement of more than 5,000 Indigenous people from the area.

In Bolivia, Indigenous groups fear the worst from dam project on Beni River

14 reasons to say NO to mega hydroelectric plants

This Spanish-language infographic by the Fundacion Solon lays out 14 reasons to say no to mega hydroelectric plants:

  • deforestation

  • flooding

  • relocation of communities

  • lack of consultation

  • obstruct free movement of boats and fish

  • contaminate water (e.g., mercury)

  • potential for dam collapse

  • not clean energy

  • higher costs and lower return than promised

  • will increase national debt

  • corruption

  • will not be profitable

  • there are other alternatives

  • is an obsolete model of development

Economic impacts of El Bala, Chepete, Rositas and Cachuela Esperanza

According to this Spanish-language blog post by the Fundacion Solon, investment costs for Chepete and El Bala would be 8.063 million dollars according to environmental records. This figure does not include the costs of the more than 1,000 km electric transmission line to Cuiaba, Brazil, where electricity would be sold. Of the planned mega-dams in Bolivia, the most expensive hydroelectric plant per MW of installed power is El Bala with 3.28 million dollars. These are only preliminary estimates. According to a 2013 study by the University of Oxford,, the final costs of mega-hydroelectric plants normally double in relation to their initial budgets.

The planned megadams are also not profitable. In the case of El Bala, the energy cost is so high that Geodata's own report recommends delaying the construction of this hydroelectric plant until market conditions improve. The one with the lowest cost of electricity generation would be the Chepete with 55 USD / MWh. However, this figure is above the average price at which Brazil bought electricity during the last decade.

To date, over 33 million dollars have been spent on studies to prepare for the megadams.

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The hidden costs of hydro: We need to reconsider world’s dam plans

According to this Mongabay article, 147 dams are planned or under construction in the Amazon Basin. However, “the Amazon Basin is getting drier, decreasing the reliable water flow for its dams.”“True socio-environmental and cultural costs of dams are rarely evaluated before construction” of hydroelectric dams. “Dam repairs and removal at the end of a project’s life are rarely figured into upfront costs. Nor are impacts on river flow reduction, loss of fisheries, and aquatic habitat connectivity, destruction of productive farmlands drowned by reservoirs, and the displacement of riverine peoples. Lack of transparency and corruption between government and dam construction companies is at the heart of the problem preventing change. Researchers recommend that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and social impact assessments (SIAs) be granted enough weight so that if they turn out negatively it will prevent a bad dam from being built.:” Environmental and social impact assessments “should be done by third parties serving citizens, not the dam company.”

The impact on nature of El Bala, Chepete, Rositas and Cachuela Esperanza

This Spanish-language blog post by the Fundacion Solon discusses the impact on nature of the El Bala and Chepete dams. Chepete will flood 677 square kilometers (km2) of Amazonian forest in one of the most biodiverse regions of Bolivia and the world. El Bala will flood 94 km2. To understand how large an area this is, the urban area of La Paz is only 149 km2.

Green house gas emissions are an additional concern. Chepete alone is expected to generate 30.9 million tons of carbon dioxide, with an additional 4.3 from El Bala.

The government and ENDE have sought to minimize the impacts by pointing out that a small percentage of protected areas will be affected. For example, in the case of Chepete, they only mention the flooding of 100 km2 within Madidi and Pilón Lajas and remain silent regarding the other 577 km2 of forests that will be flooded on land that is adjacent to the protected areas.

Status of megahydroelectric plants in Bolivia

This Spanish-language blog post by the Fundacion Solon discusses the status of four planned mega-dams in Bolivia: Chepete, El Bala, Rositas and Cachuela Esperanza. According to Fundacion Solon, these four projects show: a) high environmental impact in at least six protected areas that are megabiodiverse, b) significant social impact on thousands of people who will be displaced without having carried out to date consultation processes for prior, free and informed consent, c) unprecedented indebtedness in the country's history to produce energy at a cost that is not internationally competitive, and d) great business opportunity for Chinese construction companies, Chinese foreign banks, consulting companies, supervisors and authorities involved in the different phases of these megaprojects.

El Bala and Chepete already have the following documentation: an Identification Study that defines their location –study that was carried out by the Italian consultant Geodata-, the Environmental Data Sheets and a Preinvestment Technical Design Study (EDTP) that It is under development and includes a) the final design of both hydroelectric plants, b) the EEIA and the “public consultation” of different stakeholders and c) the preparation of the Terms of Reference for the international tender for the construction of both hydroelectric plants.

To date, El Bala and Chepete hydroelectric plants do not have environmental licenses because they have not concluded or submitted their respective EEIAs, they have not carried out the corresponding free and informed consultations in advance with indigenous peoples and affected populations, nor do they have contracts of export or agreements of intention to purchase the electricity they would generate.

Chepete-Bala: Solón warns economic damage to the State of US $ 13 million

In this Spanish-language blog post by the Fundacion Solon, it is reported that Pablo Solón sent a letter in 2017 to the Minister of Justice, Héctor Arce, requesting an investigation of the economic damage to the State of continuing with the Chepete Bala hydroelectric megaproject, when Geodata warned that it would not be profitable. According to this post, the State has already incurred almost 13 million dollars in costs due to additional studies conducted after the Italian firm Geodata Engineering warned of the non-profitability of the complex multi-million dollar project. Geodata recommended postponing the El Bala hydroelectric project and as for El Chepete, it would be profitable if the going price for electricity was $ 80 per Mw / h.

According to information provided by the former Minister of Energy and Hydrocarbons, Luis Sánchez, the average cost of electricity in the Brazilian market between 2006 and 2016 was US $ 52 Mw / h, very much below the price at which Bolivia should export if it wants to cover production and export costs and be profitable for the country.

Solon described the statements of the President of ENDE as irresponsible, when he assured that the country will export 700 Mw because that is the surplus, when there is no secured market for that electricity. As for Argentina, Solon said that Bolivia fulfilled its part of the agreement to build transmission lines in national territory to the border to export 120 Mw, but Argentina did not install the lines.

Mega-dam costs outweigh benefits, global building spree should end

Mega-dam costs outweigh benefits, global building spree should end

The environmental and social costs of hydroelectric mega-dams have been grossly underestimated, and will continue to grow further as climate change escalates, a new report finds. Dams have been linked to habitat degradation, harm to biodiversity and migrating aquatic species, and to negative changes in river ecology.