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The Patagonia BioGem continues to succeed! Read about it in the great press coverage we have received!

Allison Silverman: NRDC alum; Blog | About; Posted July 9, 2009 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

I am assuming that you are as excited as I am that this landmark energy study is already being used as a powerful technical tool that clearly shows that HydroAisen and other large, industrial energy projects are unnecessary in Chile! Therefore, I wanted to provide you with additional information about how the study launch went in Santiago and to inform you that it will now also be launched in Patagonia next week!

The event in Santiago was a huge success! There were more than 250 people in attendance who went home recognizing that the HydroAisen dam project would generate less energy than Chile could save through modest yet proactive efficiency measures. In addition to the general public, there were a number of government representatives in the audience and who participated in the round table discussion, including Alejandro Sule, Representative and President of the Energy Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, and Andres Romero of the Federal Energy Efficiency Program. Other key government representatives from the National Environmental Commission and the Water Commission were also in attendance. Mario Manríquez, Vice President of the Chilean Renewable Energy Association, and famous journalist and political analyst, Raúl Sohr, were involved as well.

According to participants, the discussion was the best part the evening. The comments were diverse and very focused on ways to show the government what it needs to do o what it should do in order for Chile to move towards new, sustainable energy policies. Sara Larrain, Chilean Energy Expert and President of the Organization Chile Sustentable, highlighted that "there is an enormous potential in Chile but the proposed work plan is contrary to what Chile requires. The work plan (large energy projects proposed for the future) reflects the interests of a small group of companies that are monopolizing and dominating the energy sector, who are only concerned with their own personal profit." Raúl Sohr, added that "The major threat to Chile is not its neighbors...but it is the lack of an adequate energy policy that integrates energy efficiency and the development of its true energy potential."

As a result of this event, our partners and the study authors already have a number of meetings lined up to discuss where we go from here. These ongoing discussions are essential at a time when the HydroAisen Company is preparing to resubmit the project's Environmental Impact Assessment.

Below, I am copying an article written by Bejamin Witte, Editor for The Patagonia Times and journalist for the Santiago Times. I am also including links to other examples of press coverage (in Spanish).

From the Santiago Times:

CHILE: NEW STUDY QUESTIONS NEED FOR HIDROAYSEN DAM PROJECT

Friday, 03 July 2009

US$3.2 Billion Energy Project Amounts To Overkill, Will Result In Higher Energy Costs

The need for Chile's controversial HidroAysén dam project was sharply questioned Thursday by a report commissioned by national and international opponents to the project. The report found that the 2,750 MW of energy the multi-billion dollar project would bring to Chile's electricity grid is not needed and will substantially increase electricity bills.

The HidroAysén project was proposed in 2006 at a time of widespread concern over Chile's thinly stretched energy supply. It is a joint venture between Chilean utility Colbún and Italian-owned Endesa and calls for construction of five massive dams along Patagonia's Baker and Pascua Rivers. If approved by government environmental authorities, the dams will together boast an installed capacity of 2,750 megawatts (MW) - a huge amount considering Chile's current overall capacity is just shy of 13,000 MW.

HidroAysén officials champion their US$3.2 billion plan as a "Proyecto País," or national priority, insisting the dams are a necessary step toward satisfying the country's growing appetite for electricity. Several high-level government officials have publicly agreed.

"From the point of view of future energy requirements, these 2,400 MW are required. They're not superfluous," Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman said in July, 2007 (prior to a later redesign of the project that upped energy production to 2,700 MW).

But the report unveiled Thursday suggests the energy will not be needed. According to the authors of "Is the HidroAysén Project Necessary? An Analysis of Chile's Energy Future," Chile has enough energy projects in the pipeline to more than satisfy demand in the coming years.

Not only can it do without HidroAysén, but, with aggressive pro-efficiency policies and better use of its plentiful renewable energy sources, Chile could also do away with numerous coal-based electricity generators currently being planned, the researchers found.

"One of the prevailing misconceptions is that in order for Chile to develop economically, if they don't approve HidroAysén, then the country must build massive numbers of coal fired power plants," said study author Stephen Hall, an independent energy consultant from Canada. "But under a realistic forecast that includes aggressive efficiency measures and renewables, we can obviate the need for both HidroAysén and any additional coal development."

The government's National Energy Commission, or CNE, predicts that in the coming years, electricity demand will grow by between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent annually. By 2025, the CNE forecasts, Chile's 9,118 MW central grid (SIC) will need to be expanded to at least 22,375 MW.

Given the many energy projects government authorities have already or are in the process of approving, Chile should have little difficulty meeting that target, insist Hall and his collaborators, Universidad de Chile researchers Roberto Román, Felipe Cuevas and Pablo Sánchez. By 2025, those projects alone should add nearly 14,000 MW, bringing the SIC's total to approximately 23,000 MW. Energy efficiency efforts and future renewable-based projects could, even by conservative estimates, boost capacity by an additional 7,284 MW, the researchers predict. HidroAysén's 2,750 MW would then bring the total to more than 32,000 MW - or way too much electricity, the study concluded.

"(HidroAysén) will mean the SIC will be massively over-constructed, oversupplied," said Hall. "The consequence would be that electricity rates will rise substantially...If you combine the project with the transmission line, it's over US$5 billion. I can't see any scenario where electricity rates don't go up substantially in order to pay down the plant."

The researchers, furthermore, consider the CNE's demand forecast somewhat exaggerated. Given the current global recession, electricity demand is likely to increase by just 3 percent between now and 2011, Hall and his associates predict. And, given historical trends, demand can be expected to rise by 4.5 percent thereafter. By 2025, in other words, Chile's SIC may in fact need just 18,452 MW, making the HidroAysén dam project even less of a necessity.

The study is welcomed by members of the Patagonia sin Represas (Patagonia without Dams) campaign, a movement that began in Aysén and now involves a host of influential Chilean and foreign participants, including International Rivers, a U.S. based NGO.

Convinced the five dams will ruin pristine Baker and Pascua Rivers and open up the mostly untouched Patagonian wilderness to further industrial exploitation, campaign members have argued for years that the project's obvious costs far outweigh any potential benefits. Given the report's conclusions, critics are now questioning whether the HidroAysén scheme promises any benefits at all.

"We understand why the company would package this as a Proyecto País," said campaign head Patricio Rodrigo. "Because whether it's a company selling carrots, socks or apples, obviously they're going to say they have the world's best product, something that everyone needs. What isn't reasonable is that members of the government would lobby on its behalf, because clearly there are other energy sources. This very study, in fact, shows we're actually facing an oversupply."

The campaign has played a crucial role in helping block the project, which HidroAysén submitted for approval by environmental authorities last August. Under pressure from both government and citizen observers, the company withdrew the plan three months later, promising to resume the approval process by the end of this year.

A more likely scenario, say members of the opposition campaign, is that HidroAysén will wait at least until next March to resubmit - after Chile's upcoming presidential election.

"This year the project enters into its political phase," said Patgonia sin Represas political coordinator Manuel Baquedano, who expects the study to play an influential role as Chile continues to debate the project.

"This is a study that was lacking," he said. "We needed something that shows concretely that with projects already underway, and with improvement in the areas of energy efficiency and investment in renewables, projects like HidroAysén can be done away with. It also gives us an argument against people who say that without HidroAysén we're going back to the era of candles."

By Benjamin Witte