The true costs of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Project, planned for the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon, have been revealed in a new independent review by a panel of 40 specialists. The panel found that the dam would have serious consequences for the region, its inhabitants, and ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest.

The panel - comprised of scientists from major Brazilian research institutions - reviewed the project's environmental impact assessment and delivered a 230-page report to Ibama, the Brazilian government's environmental agency, on October 1st.

One of the most alarming impacts identified by the specialists is that Belo Monte Dam would require diverting more than 80% of the flow of the Xingu, with impacts to fish, forests and navigation along a 100-km stretch of the river inhabited by indigenous communities. Impacts to fisheries would be severe, with the project causing the death of millions of fish along the river's Big Bend.

The dam would cause the loss of biodiversity along the Xingu including the possibility of species extinction such as the zebra pleco and sheep pacu fish. The experts also found that the number of people who would be directly affected by the dam is likely far greater than the 19,000 indicated in official studies. More than 40,000 people could be affected.

Belo Monte Dam would be the world's third largest dam project. However, despite having an installed generating capacity of 11,231 MW, it would generate as little as 1,000 MW during the three to four month low-water season.

Francisco Hernandez, electrical engineer and co-coordinator of the panel, said; "The expert panel reports highlight the folly of Belo Monte. According to private investors, the project could cost up to US$19 billion, making it an extremely inefficient investment given that the dam will generate only a fraction of its installed capacity during the dry season. And this doesn't even take into account the enormous social costs and devastation that the project would cause. No one knows the true costs of Belo Monte."

Glenn Switkes, Amazon Program Director for International Rivers, said, "A major part of the energy generated by Belo Monte will likely go to fuel the expansion of aluminum smelters and other mining and metals processing plants in the Amazon. Brazil has less destructive and cheaper energy alternatives - the Brazilian people don't need Belo Monte."

The panel also questioned the project's technical feasibility. According to Hernandez, "Belo Monte's engineering viability is doubtful, since the project would be extremely complex - consisting not only of a single dam, but in reality a series of large dams and dikes that would interrupt the flow of water over an extensive area, requiring moving a volume of earth and rocks on the scale of that excavated for the building of the Panama Canal."

The project is the largest in the Brazilian government's Growth Acceleration Program, which focuses on large-scale infrastructure projects, yet there has been little public debate regarding Belo Monte and its impacts. Last week, Brazil's energy minister called critics of the dam "demoniac forces that are trying to pull Brazil down." Brazil's environmental licensing agency, Ibama, is currently evaluating the project and says it should be able to issue a provisional license soon. The government plans to offer the concession for the project by December.

Executive Summary of Expert Panel Reports in English

Complete Text of Expert Panel Reports in Portuguese

International Rivers is an environmental and human rights organization with staff in four continents. For over two decades, International Rivers has been at the heart of the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them.