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The Tucuruí Dam (Tucuruí means "grasshopper's water", translated from Tupí language; ) is a
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
gravity dam on the
Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...
located on the Tucuruí County in the State of
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The main purpose of the dam is
hydroelectric 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 ...
power production and
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
. It is the first large-scale hydroelectric project in the Brazilian
Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...
. The installed capacity of the 25-unit plant is . Phase I construction began in 1980 and ended in 1984 while Phase II began in 1998 and ended in 2010. The dam was featured in the 1985 film '' The Emerald Forest''.


Background and history

The initial reconnaissance of the Tocantins River was carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...
in 1964. The Amazon Energy Studies Coordination Committee was formed in 1968 and begin hydroelectric project studies in 1969. Before the committee closed, Eletrobrás commissioned further studies, called the "Tocantins Studies", on the entire Tocantins River Basin. In 1973, Brazilian President Emílio Médici was asked to assign funding for a dam on the Tocantins. Two options were available: the Tucuruí Dam and Santo Antonio Dam (unrelated to the Santo Antonio Dam on the Madeira river). In 1973, the Engevix-Ecotec consortium carried out feasibility studies and the Santo Antonio Dam was ruled out in 1974. Later in 1974, the Tucuruí Dam was approved during the President Ernesto Geisel administration. The dam was built primarily as a source of hydroelectricity and second for navigation between the upper and lower
Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...
. The electricity was and is primarily supplied to industrial interests from the aluminum industry like Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. Communities in Northeast Brazil would also benefit as well, such as Belém, São Luiz, Marabá, and later Eastern Amazonia. The
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
refused to fund the dam and most of the funding was procured by Eletronorte and Brazilian institutions such as Eletrobrás, BNH, Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica Federal and FINAME. A smaller portion of funding came from Canadian, European and American institutions. In 1975, the consortium formed by the Brazilian companies Engevix and Themag were hired to draw up the basic and executive designs. In 1976, Camargo Correa won the bid to construct the dam.


Construction


Phase I

Construction on Phase I began on November 24, 1975. Phase I called for the construction of the main dam, its dikes, the power house, spillway and upper portion of the navigation locks. On February 1, 1977, concrete-pouring began on site and in September 1978, the river diversion began. On September 6, 1984, the reservoir began filling and 206-days later it was at normal pool. Construction was completed 3 years behind schedule on November 10, 1984. The navigation lock that is part of the dam's design was only partially completed during Phase I with only the upper portion. The construction costs were predicted to be $3.6 billion but rose to over 5.5 billion by construction's end. Including interest during construction, the total cost for Phase I was $7.5 billion. Until 1999, Phase I produced an average of of electricity per year.


Phase II

Construction on the $1.35 billion Phase II began in June 1998. This phase called for the construction of the new power house for 11 x Francis turbines and the completion of the navigation lock-system. The new power house is located to the left of the old one and the locks are on the north side of the dam's abutments. Phase II was expected to be completed in 2006 but is behind schedule. The second power house was completed in April 2007 but construction on the navigation locks is behind schedule.


Stakeholders


Eletrobras

Eletrobras is a Brazilian hydroelectric power company based in Rio de Janeiro. The 52% state owned electrical company generates enough energy to support about one third of Brazil's annual energy consumption.


Anti-Dam Activists

Protests to the dam's construction and continued operation have been rampant since the project was announced. While anti-dam protests result from a plethora of concerns, the chief concern of activists in this case was the displacement of individuals as a result of the dam's construction and operation. The Tucuruí Dam has displaced 32,000 people, completely wiping out some communities. The dam's most infamous protester, Dilma Ferreira Silva, was brutally assassinated on March 22, 2019. Her husband and a friend died alongside her. Silva was a staunch protester of tropical damming, working as a regional coordinator for the Movement of Dam-Affected Peoples, and spent much of her time exposing the fact that while hydroelectric power is lauded as a sustainable energy source, the Tucuruí Dam's location meant it was not environmentally friendly.


Indigenous Peoples

Prior to the Dam's construction, farming and mining, supported by the lands which came to be flooded by the Dam, was the main way of life for peoples like the Parakan, Asurini and ParkatÍjÍ. Before construction of the dam began a study was conducted to analyze the impact the project would have on local communities in which it was determined that 900 tons of the 1,500 tons of fish that these communities relied upon for survival would no longer be accessible. Without agency in Brazilian society, these tribes were reliant upon others to advocate for their needs. This, of course, did not occur.


Protests


2007 Occupation of the Tucuruí Plant

In 2007 a series of street demonstration organized by the Movement of Dam Affected People, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, and Via Campesina resulted in protesters occupying the Tucuruí plant for two days. The occupation resulted in a small win for protesters, as government officials agreed to meet with representatives if the Movement of Dam Affected People to end the protest.


Occupation of the Piratininga Ranch

In 2007 Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra occupied a ranch in Piratininga, São Paulo as a protest to the destruction of lands as a result of the Tucuruí Dam's construction. Through a process referred to as grilagem (translates to land-grabbing from Portuguese), which could be compared to a more violent form of gaining squatters rights in other countries, the protesters were able to occupy the land.


Ecosystem Services in Connection to the Tucuruí Dam

The term ecosystem services refers to he varied benefits an ecological region provides humanity. The construction of the Tucuruí Dam either jeopardized or destroyed a plethora of the ecosystem services the region provided before the hydroelectric dam's construction.


Cultural/ Heritage Services

Cultural/heritage services are those that contribute to the success of a particular community's culture and way of life. Prior to the dam's construction, multiple indigenous groups' identity was tied to the Tocantins River area in the Brazilian state of Pará which would come to be destroyed by the dam. Since the dam's construction, a number of indigenous reserves, like those of the Parakanã, Pucuruí and Montanha have been flooded and the reserves of the Mãe Maria, Trocará, Krikati and Cana Brava have been cut through by transmission lines.


Habitat Services

While cultural/heritage services refers to the spaces humans inhabit, habitat services refers to animals. The river was once home to 280 species of fish, but only 178 species remain. Additionally, aquatic mammals, such as manatees, river dolphins, and amazon dolphins which once flourished in the region are not expected to survive spillways and other impacts the dam created, threatening the continued success of these species.


Supporting Services

Supporting services are one which help stabilize a particular ecosystem. In the wake of the dam's completion the region it inhabits underwent eutrophication, the process of soil becoming too nutrient rich, making it a breeding ground for malaria carrying mosquitos and ideal habitat for excessive aquatic plant life growth as a result.


Watershed/ Fresh Water Services

The Tocantins watershed was, historically, an important access point for freshwater amongst the humans and animals living in the region. As a result of construction, however, the water quality of the Tocantins River Basin has been jeopardized due to discharge of industrial effluents, residues of agricultural uses, and untreated sewage disposal.


Dam

The main portion Tucuruí Dam is a and concrete-gravity dam. The addition of the Mojú and Caraipé earth-fill dikes increases the total length to . The main dam's Creager-type service spillway is the second largest in the world with a maximum capacity of . It is controlled by 20 floodgates measuring .


Reservoir

The reservoir impounded by the dam has a capacity of with a live volume of .


Power houses

The Phase I power house is concrete and is fitted with an intake and penstocks. Phase I's power house contains 12 x Francis turbine generators. An auxiliary water intake and auxiliary powerhouse also houses 2 x generators.


Locks

The dam is designed to support two wide navigation locks.


Impact

The Tucuruí Dam brought power to 13 million people and 60% of the power is transferred to industries which create just under 2,000 jobs. Between 25,000 and 35,000 people were removed from the future reservoir zone in the early 1980s. 14,000 people were relocated by the government. 3,750 of these people moved to new islands created by the reservoir which lack adequate infrastructure. Construction of the dam attracted migrants which, along with the reservoir, significantly increased
malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
and
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
cases. The completion of Phase I in 1984 led to a large amount of unemployment among its 20,000 employees and subsequent migration from the area. The flooded area is in the Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests ecoregion, the most degraded in the Amazon region. The overall large influx of people to the area has led to deforestation and negative impacts from increased cattle-raising. The increases of population have also strained existing infrastructure or lack thereof.


See also

* Energy policy of Brazil * List of largest hydroelectric power stations *
List of largest power stations in the world This article lists the largest Electricity generation, power stations in the world, the ten overall and the five of each type, in terms of installed electrical Nameplate capacity, capacity. Non-renewable resource, Non-renewable power stations are ...
*
List of conventional hydroelectric power stations This article lists hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power stations that generate power using the Hydroelectricity#Generating methods, conventional dammed method. This list includes power stations that are larger than in maximum net capacity, and a ...
* List of dam megaprojects * List of power stations in Brazil


Bibliography

*Rios, Jorge Paes. ''The flood gates operating instructions of Tucurui Hydroelectric Power Plant''. San Francisco, 1986. ''Les consignes d' opération des vannes de l'Usine Hydroelectrique de Tucurui'' International Committee on Large Dams.


External links


Company's website


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucurui Dam Dams completed in 1984 Energy infrastructure completed in 1984 Energy infrastructure completed in 2007 Dams in Pará Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil Gravity dams Locks of Brazil Tucuruí