Originally published in The Financial Times
A fiercely contested project to dam two pristine rivers in southern Chile and build five hydroelectric power plants in the glacier-carved Patagonian wilderness has been temporarily put on hold by an appeals court ruling.
“This is the beginning of the end,” Marcelo Castillo, a lawyer representing the Patagonia Defence Council, an environmental lobby group, told the Financial Times. “We have been denouncing irregularities with the project since 2008.
“I am absolutely sure we are going to win.”
The appeals court in the southern city of Puerto Montt this week granted three injunctions brought by environmentalists against the May 9 approval of an environmental impact plan for the HidroAysén power project, which is owned by the companies Endesa and Colbún.
Conservationists say the plan to build five power stations on the fast-flowing Baker and Pascua rivers, flood nearly 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) and build a 1,900km (1,180 mile) transmission line will cause irreparable damage to the ecosystems of a pristine fjord-filled landscape that is a significant tourist attraction.
Apart from being an eyesore, they say it will decimate the population of South Andean deer, spoil fly-fishing areas and endanger native fish stocks.
The project, slated to cost $7bn as a result of the necessary dams, power equipment and transmission line, has sparked a slew of increasingly violent protests. A survey by La Tercera newspaper last month found 74 per cent of respondents opposed it and 83 per cent believe it will have environmental consequences.
However, advocates see it as a long-term solution for an energy-importing nation seeking to fuel development. HidroAysén says the project will add 2,750 MW of power and boost capacity in the main SIC electricity grid by a third. It is not expected to be fully operational for more than a decade.
“This is just a routine step and does not affect us in the slightest or alter the timeframes we have for the project in the slightest,” said Mario Galindo, a lawyer for HidroAysén.
But there are still big gaps to fill before the project can get off the ground. Despite last month’s environmental approval, the transmission line needed to transport the power has not yet been approved and, bizarrely, the project does not even have the rights to the water it proposes to use, environmentalists say.
Chile is the world’s top copper-producing nation and currently relies heavily on imported liquefied natural gas to generate power. It has plans to expand coal-fired generation but nuclear power is not expected to garner support after the Japan disaster, given Chile’s equally earthquake-prone history and renewable sources cannot yet keep up with demand.
Mr Castillo believes the court ruling could delay the project by up to a year while lobby groups seek to get the environmental plan definitively scrapped.
Escalation to the Supreme Court is likely, whatever the outcome, and environmentalists say they will appeal to international tribunals if necessary.
