The Teles Pires Dam is a

run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

on the

Teles Pires River The Teles Pires ( pt, Rio São Manuel) is a long river in Brazil. The river flows through the state of Mato Grosso and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. At its mouth it joins Juruena River and together ...

, upstream of the confluence with the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

river, on the border of the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian states of Mato Grosso and

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

. The dam impounds a reservoir ( original riverbed and inundated area), 84% in Mato Grosso state (Paranaíta district) and 16% in Para state (Jacareacanga district). The dam is part of a planned six-power-plant "Hidrovia Tapajos/Teles Pires" project to create a navigable waterway connecting the interior of Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. The waterway will consist of six dams on the Teles Pires river—the Magessi Dam, Sinop Dam, Colider Dam, Teles Pires Dam, and Sao Manoel Dam—and the Foz do Apiacas Dam on the Apiacas river. Smaller upstream dams are still in the planning stages.

Design

The Teles Pires Dam is a gravity dam constructed of composite materials layered on a roller-compacted concrete core, located on the Teles Pires river upstream of the confluence with the Tapajos river, on the border between the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Para.

Impacts

Brazilian law requires water impoundments to undergo an approval process to ensure that each project meets environmental, social, political, and safety criteria.

Social

The most frequent objection is that the dam builders failed to adequately consult with indigenous peoples, as required by law. The Brazilian government indigenous protection foundation

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it is also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recorders to major corporations such as S ...

predicts that there may be un-contacted indigenous populations in the region that will be affected by the dam. On March 30, 2012, a judge suspended construction of the Teles Pires Dam to preserve a waterfall that is considered sacred by an indigenous tribe.

Environmental

The Teles Pires Dam does not impound a large reservoir because it is a run-of-the-river project. The dam also feature significant environmental remediation efforts. As a consequence, there has not been strong environmental opposition to the implementation of the Teles Pires Dam. On 17 March 2015 an agreement was made to compensate the public for the irreversible negative environmental impacts of the project through payment of R$500,000 for use by the Sucunduri State Park.

References

{{reflist Dams in Mato Grosso Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil Run-of-the-river power stations Roller-compacted concrete dams Gravity dams Dams in Pará

Design

Impacts

Social

Environmental

See also

References