Ministry: Reports show Madeira is environ feasible

Brazil's mines and energy ministry has unveiled independent reports that show the Madeira hydroelectric project's environmental problems can be mitigated, a ministry spokesperson told BNamericas, confirming local press reports. "The ministry decided some time ago to hire specialists to study the problems and give an independent opinion," the spokesperson said. "These studies have no relation with the environmental impact study carried out by Furnas and Odebrecht." Measures can be taken to reduce the impact Madeira plants would have on a local catfish species. Further, sedimentation problems caused by the projects are smaller than federal environmental protection agency Ibama had projected, the spokesperson said, citing the reports. Ibama's technical body rejected the project EISs, saying they lacked detail and that proposals to mitigate problems do not go far enough. Madeira is made up of the 3,150MW Santo Antônio and the 3,300MW Jirau projects that would be built on the Madeira river in the western Amazon region close to the Bolivian border. INTEREST CONTINUES The ministry's announcement of the reports was made as one of Brazil's largest engineering companies, Camargo Corrêa, reaffirmed its interest in leading a consortium to bid for the complex. Camargo Corrêa has named renowned electrical engineer and consultant João Canellas to preside over a consortium to bid for Madeira, a Camargo Corrês spokesperson told BNamericas. "Canellas is a name that gives weight to the company's intentions," the spokesperson said. Canellas will head talks with 4-5 companies that will form the consortium, which will include large industries with high power consumption bills and traditional power companies. The consortium, dubbed Amazônia Madeira Enrgética Amel, also is in talks with government officials over the tender. The consortium wants tender rules to be strict and block groups without the financial weight to bid and capacity to build a major transmission line for the project. Camargo Corrêa, one Brazil's largest engineering firms, has allocated 50 people to work in groups to study Madeira's legal, financial and engineering details, the spokesperson said.