Professional Documents
Culture Documents
32
1540-7977/06/$20.002006 IEEE
July/August 2006
July/August 2006
33
kWh
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
Venezuela
Chile
Argentina
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Bolivia
0
1980
1985
1990
Year
1995
2000
Ecuador 22,000
Chile 26,046
Bolivia 39,850
Brazil 143,380
Argentina 44,500
Venezuela 50,000
Colombia 93,085
Environmental Challenges
34
July/August 2006
the regional emissions, with coal burning accounting for only 7.3% of CO2
100
emissions. Per capita emissions of
90
CO2 are small, Argentina with 0.96 t
80
Brazil
of carbon per person per year, Chile
70
Peru
with 1 t, and Brazil with 0.49 t, well
60
Venezuela
50
Colombia
below the global average per capita
40
Chile
rate of 1.12 t of carbon. Nevertheless,
Bolivia
30
even with those low figures, the conArgentina
20
cern is that the emissions in Latin
10
America increased more than the
0
world average between 1990 and
2000
1980
1985
1995
1990
2000. Energy consumption, economic
Year
developments, and CO2 emissions are
closely tied to each other in the region figure 3. Share of hydroelectric power in generation of electricity.
(Figure 5), and efforts to decouple
them through a more efficient use of energy have been weak. argue would be harmful for people and for the agricultural
Nonetheless, it is in forest management, more that in energy sector. In a region where agricultural export products signifiefficiency improvements, that there are opportunities for cantly contribute to economic development, this can be a relreducing CO2 emissions in the region. The destruction of the evant barrier for new fuel-fired plants.
rain forest in the region was responsible for 30% of the
However, with the significant hydro potential of the region,
worlds total CO2 emissions from the change of land use.
a more important area of conflict for electricity supply expanWith those conditions, the actions in pollution control in sion over recent years has arisen with the development of
electricity production in South America, with emissions hydro resources. Risks of flooding tropical rainforest, flooding
much lower than those from transport and industry, are of scarcely populated areas (but having an indigenous populaessentially driven by a population that is concerned more tion), and water use conflicts are making life harder for hydro
with their health impact than with the greenhouse effects. developers. International environmental action groups are
General environmental laws being implemented throughout joining opposition to these projects in the region; Robert
the region are creating conditions for local communities in Kennedy Jr. is leading public actions against them.
each country to limit CO2 emissions and other pollutants.
An avenue to achieve clean and cheap energies for the
Often, farmers and environmentalists join efforts to chal- future was seen in the use of abundant regional natural gas
lenge new coal- or gas-fired thermal power plants that they resources, both for industrial applications and electricity
figure 4. 1995 emissions of CO2 from power generation, United Nations Environment Program (2005). (Source: The
GEO Data Portal: http://geodata.grid.unep.ch.)
July/August 2006
35
generation, in this last case making use of the major technological breakthroughs achieved with the development of combined-cycle gas turbines. This technology not only provided a
low-emission fossil fuel but also raised average thermal energy efficiency to almost 60%. Another important fact for the
countries of the region, some with small power systems, is
that these efficiency gains occur even for plants as small as
150 MW, eliminating economy-of-scale conditions. The
process was facilitated with the development of an international network of gas pipelines throughout South America,
transporting resources available in Venezuela, Bolivia,
Argentina, and Peru. Proved significant gas reserves in those
countries, plus extensive drilling for natural gas rather than
oil, was to be the main objective in this avenue, reducing the
relative share of oil byproducts and hydropower. This clean,
cheap fuel process, plus the energy integration development,
350
Mexico
Brazil
CO2
300
300
CO2
Economy
250
250
Energy
Economy
200
200
Energy
150
150
100
1971
1980
1990
2000
100
1971
1980
1990
2000
350
Argentina
Venezuela
300
300
CO2
250
250
Energy
200
200
Energy
150
150
100
1971
Economy
1980
1990
Economy
2000
100
1971
CO2
1980
1990
2000
figure 5. Energy consumption, economic development, and CO2 emissions in selected Latin American countries.
(Source: World Resource Institute.)
36
July/August 2006
Environmental Regulations
The Case of Brazil
Environmental regulation in Brazil dates from the early 1980s,
where a National Policy for Environmental Issues was launched
and established that construction, installation, and functioning of
activities that use environmental resources depend on the
approval of licenses from environmental bodies. A National
Council for Environment (CONAMA), a high-level cabinet with
an advisory role on the countrys environmental actions and
standards, was created as well as the first federal and state environmental licensing agencies. Later on, the 1998 Brazilian Constitution devoted a chapter towards the formulation of an
environmental policy for the country, and the creation of the
Brazilian Institute of Environment (IBAMA) in 1989 consolidated the Brazilian environmental guidelines. IBAMA is the main
governmental body for environmental issues, responsible for
coordinating, formulating, inspecting, and enforcing the National
Policy of Environmental Issues for a rational use of the natural
resources. Finally, in 1992 the Ministry of Environment was created and became the main government body responsible (jointly
with IBAMA) to plan the countrys environmental guidelines.
The environmental licensing process is the instrument for
the development of environmentally sustainable projects; it
involves a systematic evaluation of the environmental conseJuly/August 2006
37
Chile must be evaluated before their execution. Various categories of projects are defined that must be evaluated. The
projects concerning the electricity sector that must be submitted to the SEIA include generation plants larger than 3 MW
and high-voltage transmission lines and their substations.
The Ministry of Economy, advised by the Superintendence of
Electricity and Fuels, needs to grant definitive concessions for the
construction of a hydro plant and the building of the associated
transmission lines (the building of thermal plants does not require
concessions under the electricity law). The hydro plant must own
the required water rights for the project, water rights that are
granted by the General Water Authority, a part of the Ministry of
Public Works. CONAMA needs to grant the plant an authorization that it meets environmental restrictions, with an impact study
to be submitted by the plant owners. In indigenous lands, other
regulations intervene. An important restriction arises as articles of
the Indigenous Law prohibit forcing inhabitants to sell their land.
80
Cross-Border Rivers
Water Use Conflicts: Agriculture, Tourism,
and Navigation
km
00
2.
km
36 GW
14%
43 GW
16%
42 GW
16%
Flooding and Agro Industrial Pollution,
Cross-Border Rivers
Water Use Conflicts: Agriculture, Tourism and Supply
figure 6. Brazil: hydro potential and environmental issues in hydro development. [Source: Eletrobras, 2004, and S.
Helena Pires (a Course on Environmental Issues in Brazil, FGV, 2005).]
39
12,000
8,000
There are some obstacles for the operation (civil work not yet started,
delays in the environmental licensing).
There are severe obstacles for the operation (suspension of the
environmental licensing, injunctions, environmental infeasibility).
6,000
4,000
2,000
Severe Obstacles
There Are Some Obstacles
No Obstacles
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Total
(2006-2010)
179
405
523
1,531
1,027
3,664
268
295
214
992
1,769
4,098
183
187
4,468
figure 7. Incremental capacity additions of hydro plants and environmental status. [Source: ANEEL (Electricity Regulator); http://www.aneel.gov.br (March 2006).]
technologies from all candidate suppliers. In particular, 35% the past but still have no license. In both cases, the objective
of the new energy contracted came from hydro generation at is to ease the full licensing procedure with robust EIA studies
an average price of US$45/MWh, while 56% came from and the active participation of several sectors of society.
thermal generation at an average price of US$50/MWh (9% Inventory studies are also part of this framework, which will
of the new energy contracted came from sugarcane biomass also review inventories of other basins studied in the past.
plants, to be discussed next). A simplistic calculation shows that if, for
example, 500 average MW (energy)
Ten basins (Tocantins and Uruguai) and
of hydro generation replaced the
subbasins (Parnaba, Paranaba, Doce,
same amount of thermals, the yearly
Paraba do Sul, Tapajs, Araguaia, Tibagi,
net reduction on consumers conIguau) are being inventoried; expansion
options will become available from 2008
tract payment would be about
US$22 million, which could be
used, for example, to reduce the
Amazonas
social inequality of the country. In
summary, the concern with the
Tocantins
social-environmental impacts is
Atlantic (N and NE)
absolutely legitimate but makes the
So Francisco
licensing process for hydro very
A
Hydro
Basin
Atlantic
(East)
complex and long, which has result(Cascaded
Hydros)
ed in the construction of more
Paran
expensive equipment for the country
Uruguai
and, ironically, pollutants.
Atlantic (Southeast)
Solution Perspective:
Integrated
Environmental Assessment
The main approach that is being
adopted to solve this deadlock is an
integrated environmental assessment
(IEA) of inventories and planning of
hydro plants, looking at the cumulative and synergic environmental
impacts in the whole basin instead of
on a project-by-project basis. The
methodology takes into account
impacts on biodiversity, water quality, sustainable development, and
social aspects (i.e., stronger participation of the society through workshops and seminars among
institutions, investors, and the population). By identifying the proper or
fragile areas through the environment
point of view, a multicriteria
approach of evaluating the system
expansion alternatives both economically and environmentally can be carried out. The IEA will be the first
step before the issuance of EIA and
PL and will ease the whole licensing
process. It will be carried out for
either the greenfield hydro projects
and redone for the projects whose
concessions were already granted in
July/August 2006
figure 8. Brazil: Hydro basins with cascaded hydros and selected basins for IEA.
Major Electricity
Load Centers
New Projects
Mato Grosso
Distrito Federal
Goias
Distrito Federal
Sugarcane Crop
Areas (Area of New
Cogen Projects)
Minas Gerais
Main Electricity
Load Centers
Sao Paulo
Rio de Janeiro
Parana
1:2,500,000
41
Energy (GWh)
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
Rapel
Invernada
Colbun
Chapo
Sep 2004
Jan 2005
Jan 2004
May 2004
Sep 2003
Jan 2003
Ralco
May 2003
Sep 2002
May 2002
Sep 2001
Jan 2002
May 2001
Sep 2000
Jan 2001
May 2000
Sep 1999
Jan 2000
May 1999
Sep 1998
Jan 1999
Jan 1998
May 1998
Sep 1997
Jan 1997
May 1997
Sep 1996
May 1996
Sep 1995
Jan 1996
May 1995
Sep 1994
Jan 1995
May 1994
Jan 1994
1,000
Laja
figure 10. Energy reserve of hydro reservoirs in the Chilean main system.
MMm3
5
60%
3
50%
40%
2
30%
% of Restriction
70%
20%
10%
0%
04
-2
05
04
-2
06
04
-2
07
04
-2
08
04
-2
09
04
-2
10
04
-2
11
04
-2
12
05
-2
01
05
-2
02
05
-2
03
05
-2
05
05
-2
04
05
-2
06
05
-2
07
05
-2
08
05
-2
09
figure 11. Natural gas restrictions from Argentina to the main Chilean system.
Hydro Development
and Environmental Constraints
The true challenge for Chile is that it must obtain its power
diversification and sustainability in the scheme of a competitive
IEEE power & energy magazine
43
July/August 2006
Proyecto Ro
Baker 1
Proyecto Ro
Baker 2
Proyecto Ro
Pascua 2
Proyecto Ro
Pascua 1
45
Challenges
The primary challenge for South American countries is to
ensure sufficient capacity and investment to serve their growing economies reliably. Social and environmental impacts are
an inherent part of electric markets and cannot be swept
under the rug. The concern with the environment is absolutely legitimate but, in some cases, has resulted in the construction of more expensive equipment. Obviously, the interest of
a local population should be considered and respected, but
the legitimate interest of the society to have energy at the
lowest possible cost also should not be ignored.
The most fundamental challenge is to allow the society to
know, through lively participation in the studies and licensing
process of hydro and thermal plants, that there is no competitive energy with no environmental impact. A policy of zero
environmental impact has obviously a very high economic
cost, and the society must be aware of this tradeoff so that the
best option to reconcile environmental concerns, economic
growth, and social justice can be chosen.
The challenge for the countries of South America is to
balance requesting extra environmental requirements with the
ensuing increase in marginal costs and, finally, energy prices.
46
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable contributions by Fondecyt and Universidad Catolica de Chile and the
valuable discussions with Mario Pereira from PSR.
Biographies
Luiz A. Barroso is an IEEE Member, has a B.Sc. in mathematics, and received the Ph.D. degree in optimization from
COPPE/UFRJ, Brazil. He is a senior analyst with Power Systems Research (PSR), where he has been providing consulting services and research on power systems economics,
planning, and operation, focusing on hydrothermal systems.
Sebastian Mocarquer is an IEEE Member and graduated as
an industrial electrical engineer from Catholic University of
Chile, Santiago. He is the development manager at Systep Engineering Consultants, providing consulting services on energy
economics and regulation and network planning and tariffs.
Hugh Rudnick is an IEEE Fellow. He graduated as an
electrical engineer from the University of Chile, Santiago,
Chile. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Victoria University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is professor of engineering at Catholic University of Chile,
Santiago, and the director of Systep Engineering Consultants.
His research activities focus on the economic operation, planning, and regulation of electric power systems.
Tarcsio Castro has a B.Sc. in civil engineering (hydrological resources) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. He is with Power Systems Research (PSR), and he has
more than 25 years of experience in hydrological studies and
on environmental analysis of generation/transmission permits
processes, including integrated environmental planning. p&e
July/August 2006