{"id":50005888,"date":"2016-04-15T13:24:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T12:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.dialogochino.net\/?p=5888"},"modified":"2023-06-05T15:32:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T14:32:18","slug":"5888-argentina-confirms-santa-cruz-dam-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/5888-argentina-confirms-santa-cruz-dam-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina confirms Santa Cruz dam projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of rumours, Mauricio Macri\u2019s government has officially confirmed that the controversial China-backed dams<\/a> in Patagonia will go ahead. However, following complaints by environmental organizations, the original plan will be subject to changes, which could include reducing the dams’ size.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took 30 days to review it and we\u2019ve been in conversation with China. Argentina needs the dams in order to provide an important part of the country\u2019s energy, since they\u2019ll account for 4% of the total generated,\u201d said Daniel Redondo, secretary of energy planning at the ministry of mining and energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re aiming to modify the project to reduce the environmental impact, or at least mitigate it or compensate for it,\u201d Redondo told Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Nestor Kichner and Jorge Cepernic dams<\/a> will be two of Argentina\u2019s biggest energy projects and would help the country reduce energy imports. However, green groups say they run the risk of impacting the Upsala, Spegazzini and Perito Moreno glaciers, which are located within a UNESCO world heritage site<\/a>, as well as area’s biodiversity.<\/p>\n

The project will take five years to construct at an estimated cost of US$4.7 billion, financed entirely by Chinese banks. The idea was first announced by former president Cristina Kirchner and then revised by Macri.<\/p>\n

According to the original plans, the dams will increase Argentina\u2019s energy capacity by 5% and will employ 5,000 people. Around 50 ranches, some 47,000 hectares of land, will be flooded by the dam, which will have 11 turbines installed in its engine room. However, a new high tension transmission line will need to be installed since current infrastructure is only capable of transporting 45% of the energy hat would be produced by the project.<\/p>\n

Confirmation of the project comes after Macri held a meeting<\/a> with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Washington DC, in which the Argentine president underscored the importance of the relationship between the two countries. Macri\u2019s declaration ended months of speculation over whether Sino-Argentine relations<\/a> would take a new turn under his stewardship. The two countries signed more than 20 deals<\/a> under Kirchner\u2019s government and upgraded the relationship to an \u2018integral strategic alliance\u2019.<\/p>\n

Redondo told Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/em> the dam deal was \u201crushed through\u201d by the previous administration and had an \u201cinsufficient\u201d environmental impact assessment. However, he pointed out that he is working with the contractors \u2013 Electroingener\u00eda <\/a>and Hidrocuyo and China\u2019s Gezhouba <\/a>group \u2013 to take the project forward.<\/p>\n

Sources at Electroingener\u00eda told Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/em> they are awaiting information from the government on the required modifications to the project, with the crux of changes expected to consist of a reduction in the dams\u2019 size. However, any change will have to be approved by the banks financing the project \u2013 China Development Bank (CDB), Bank of China (BoC), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Another change to the dams could be their names.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the original project, the government would control the dams for 15 years and then hand them over to the provincial government of Santa Cruz, currently headed by the opposition’s Alicia Kirchner, the sister of the ex-president.<\/p>\n

Project paused<\/strong><\/p>\n

On assuming the presidency, Macri ordered a halt to construction of the dams and placed the China deals under revision.  The uncertainty surrounding the project prompted CDB representatives to visit Buenos Aires to seek assurances from the government \u2013 and to remind it that cancelling the dams would also mean terminating an accord to upgrade the state-run Belgrano Cargas rail network.<\/p>\n

Only secondary work is currently taking place at the site of the dams as funds had been frozen in the Argentine Central Bank, awaiting Macri\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

According to Ariel Slipak, an economist specializing in China-Argentina relations at the Universidad de Moreno<\/a>, both domestic and international politics have influenced the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has maintained that it needed to have a good, but stricter, relationship with China. China is still Argentina\u2019s second largest export destination,\u201d Slipak told Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/em> but added; \u201cMacri is only questioning the dams because Electroingener\u00eda is a company he associates with the ex-president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dar\u00edo Rodr\u00edguez, coordinator of the dam campaign at green group Banco de Bosques <\/a>(Forest Bank in English), told Dialogo Chino<\/em>: \u201cThe project is messy in a legal and technical sense and the easiest thing to do would be to start again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is a death sentence for the Santa Cruz river,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez continued, adding that a new environmental impact assessment is required since the original was not properly produced.<\/p>\n

The hooded grebe (mac\u00e1 tobiano) spends the winter months in the Santa Cruz river’s estuary, which has been declared an important bird conservation area by the Bird Life International<\/a>. Green groups say the construction of the dams will have serious consequences not just for this species but for many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sent a letter to the government asking it to review the project and opening up a process of consultation. Redondo\u2019s statement that they are going to go build the dams is concerning. If they were going to revise the impact study, then they wouldn\u2019t be able to confirm that project would go ahead. It\u2019s contradictory,\u201d Andres Napoli, director of FARN <\/a>(Environment and Natural Resources Foundation in English), told Di\u00e1logo Chino<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The dams were first mooted in 1950. The military regime studied their feasibility in the 1970s but never moved forward with the project. Cristina Kirchner\u2019s government relaunched the dams in 2007 under the names Condor Cliff (Nestor Kirchner) and Barrancosa (Jorge Cepernic) at 35% less than the current costs. Plans were scrapped due to lack of funds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macri confirms controversial hydro projects will go ahead despite ongoing environmental concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40000225,"featured_media":50005895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757],"tags":[50040314,554],"hashtags":[],"country":[50000020],"class_list":["post-50005888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-dams","tag-hydropower","country-argentina"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArgentina confirms Santa Cruz dam projects | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macri confirms controversial hydro projects will go ahead despite ongoing environmental concerns\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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