Economy

Major Amazon energy project forced to adhere to indigenous time

The Tucuruí line runs through the Waimiri Atroari indigenous territory, home to some 2,300 indigenous people in 82 villages. Photo: PAC

If time is money, then the Waimiri Atroari indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon must be very expensive — as one Brazilian energy company is finding out the hard way.

Transnorte Energia, a joint venture between Alupar, a private energy group, and Eletronorte, a subsidiary of the recently privatized Eletrobras, is working on the final stretch of the massive Tucuruí transmission line. It is a 728-kilometer network of power cables and towers that will connect Roraima, Brazil’s northernmost state, to the national grid.

The problem is that the Tucuruí line runs through the Waimiri Atroari indigenous territory, home to some 2,300 indigenous people in 82 villages.

Auctioned off 13 years ago, the Tucuruí project hadn’t made much progress, largely due to its myriad socio-environmental impacts — but it began moving forward last year.

However, the pace of construction has been a source of frustration for Transnorte Energia, due to the conditions imposed by indigenous peoples to allow the transmission line to cross their territory.

The Brazilian Report obtained access to a January 10 letter from Transnorte Energia to the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel). In the document, the company asserts that it is “of the utmost importance that Aneel be aware of the difficulties we are facing and will face throughout the development of this project” because of the “decision time of the indigenous peoples.”

In practice, what the company is trying to do is to distance itself from liability for possible delays in the work and avoid future penalties for breach of contract.

In the document, Transnorte Energy states that it has an “excellent relationship with the Waimiri Atroari” indigenous people, but emphasizes that, as a community, they “do not decide absolutely anything by vote, but rather by consensus,” which can take an unpredictable amount of time.

“For each issue presented by Transnorte Energy, all leaders are consulted, and after consensus is reached, the decision is made and communicated to Transnorte Energy,” the company says.

“In order to successfully implement the transmission line, we must respect the indigenous peoples’ decision time,” the company says. However, it adds that this “will have a direct impact on the additional time needed to complete the project.”