Belo Monte mega dam is being built on a river that runs almost dry a large part
of the year. This will be a very inefficient project – running at 10% of its
capacity during the driest months. The energy produced will go to mines that extract
resources that are then shipped to other countries. About 30 percent of the produced
energy will go to support the mining industry, while 70 percent of the energy produced
by the dam will go to households hundreds of miles away from the Xingu River. There is
no stopping this dam now. It has been approved by a short-sighted government that insists
this is the only solution to the energy needs of the country.

Norte Energia company, the concession-holder for the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam,
now control the water flow in the Volta Grande stretch of the Xingu River, a 100-km
area divided in three municipalities, with five indigenous villages along the riverbanks.
By opening or closing spillways and activating or shutting off its turbines, Norte Energia
dictates the water level downstream in the Xingu River. It’s clear that they do it without
considering the human and environmental impacts. Abrupt fluctuations in the volume of water
released in the Volta Grande due to the opening of spillways causes changes in the water
level in the river that confuse the aquatic fauna, disoriented by the availability of space
to feed and breed, according to ecologist Juarez Pezzuti, a professor at the Federal University of
Pará. Moreover, the reduced water flow has made navigation difficult in the Volta Grande,
the traditional transport route used by local people, increasing the need for land transport.

Vale, who owns aluminum and iron ore smelters nearby and is a 9% stakeholder in Norte Energia,
will purchase Belo Monte’s energy to fuel its mining expansion in the region. The energy would
also go to fuel the powerful industrial sector in south-east Brazil, which consumes 28.6% of
all electricity in the country, mainly in São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

Read more: Belo Monte Campaign blog by Netzdemo Portal.