Balbina Dam

Balbina Dam
Location Amazonas, Brazil
Coordinates 01°55′02″S 59°28′25″W / 1.91722°S 59.47361°W / -1.91722; -59.47361Coordinates: 01°55′02″S 59°28′25″W / 1.91722°S 59.47361°W / -1.91722; -59.47361
Construction began 1985
Opening date 1989
Dam and spillways
Impounds Uatumã River
Height 33 m (108 ft)
Length 2,920 m (9,580 ft)
Reservoir
Creates Balbina Reservoir
Total capacity 17.54 km3 (14,220,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area 16,502 km2 (6,371 sq mi)
Surface area 2,360 km2 (910 sq mi)
Maximum water depth 30 m (98 ft)
Power Station
Operator(s) Manaus Energia
Commission date 1989
Turbines 5 × 50 MW (67,000 hp)
Installed capacity 250 MW (340,000 hp)

The Balbina Dam (Portuguese: Usina Hidrelétrica de Balbina) is a hydroelectric dam and power station on the Uatumã River in the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. The location is under the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo jurisdiction, in the state of Amazonas.

Structure

The Balbina Dam was built from 1985 to 1989 and is managed by Manaus Energia, under the Eletronorte system. The first of five generators began operating in February 1989. The dam has an installed capacity of 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) and floods a 2,360-square-kilometre (910 sq mi) area.[1][2]

Controversy

The dam was established to provide a renewable electricity supply to the city of Manaus but was considered by locals a controversial project from the start, due to the loss of forest and displacement of tribal homes grounds.[3] About 2,928.5 square kilometres (1,130.7 sq mi) of land formerly occupied by the Waimiri-Atroari was removed from the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Territory and flooded.[4] The dam was also criticized for its expensive construction and maintenance costs.[3] As a result of the methane released from its vast reservoir, proportional to its output, the Balbina Dam emits more greenhouse gases than most coal plants.[5] The dam is the least efficient in Brazil in terms of the area flooded for each megawatt generated.[6]

Conservation

The lake and island ecosystems formed by the dam are protected by the 938,720 hectares (2,319,600 acres) Uatumã Biological Reserve, a strictly protected conservation unit created in 2002.[7] The west shore is protected by the 374,700 hectares (926,000 acres) Caverna do Maroaga Environmental Protection Area, established in 1990.[8] Downstream from the dam the Uatumã runs through the 424,430 hectares (1,048,800 acres) Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve, created in 2004.[9] The dam regulates the river flow through the reserve, and reduces seasonal flooding.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil
  2. ↑ Philip M. Fearnside 2006.
  3. 1 2 Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo – CEPA.
  4. ↑ Baines 2008, p. 50.
  5. ↑ "Dams in the Amazon: The rights and wrongs of Belo Monte". The Economist. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 Sobre a RDS – RDS do Uatumã, Geografia.
  7. ↑ Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica do Uatumã.
  8. ↑ APA Caverna do Maroaga ... ISA, Informações gerais (mapa).
  9. ↑ RDS do Uatumã – ISA, Características.

Sources

  • APA Caverna do Maroaga (Presidente Figueiredo) (in Portuguese), ISA: Instituto Socioambiental, retrieved 2016-10-20
  • Baines, Stephen G. (2008-10-27), "The Reconstruction of Waimiri-Atroari Territory", in Adolfo de Oliveira, Decolonising Indigenous Rights, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-30076-1, retrieved 2016-07-29
  • Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo, CEPA: Centro de Ensino e Pesquisa Aplicada, retrieved 2016-07-29
  • Philip M. Fearnside (2006-08-26), Balbina Dam, Amazonas, Department of Ecology, National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), retrieved 2007-12-04
  • RDS do Uatumã (in Portuguese), ISA: Instituto Socioambiental, retrieved 2016-07-25
  • Sobre a RDS (in Portuguese), RDS do Uatumã, retrieved 2016-07-25
  • Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica do Uatumã (in Portuguese), MMA: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, retrieved 2016-04-18
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