The Teles Pires Dam is a
run-of-the-river hydroelectric dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
on the
Teles Pires River, upstream of the confluence with the
Tapajós river, on the border of the
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian states of
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...
and
Pará
Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...
. 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 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
Environmental remediation is the cleanup of hazardous substances dealing with the removal, treatment and containment of pollution or contaminants from Natural environment, environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment. Remediation may be ...
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.
See also
*
List of power stations in Brazil
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