The executive director of the Commission, Vivianne Blanlot told EL DIARIO
EL DIARIO FINANCIERO (Santiago, Friday, 30 May 1997) "Most probably,
we will issue a resolution conditionally approving the project". this
from the executive director of the National Commission on the
Environment (CONAMA), Vivianne Blanlot, referring to the Environmental
Impact Study presented by ENDESA for construction of the Ralco
hydroelectric dam on the upper Biobio River. This would move the
project by the country's largest electrical utility into a new phase
toward its completion.
The study, which is due for a decision before June 8, was presented by
ENDESA's electrical generation subsidiary in March, 1996, after which
CONAMA solicited additional material before evaluating the plan and
deciding on the environmental impacts the project would have. One of
the most relevant and controversial aspects among opponents of ENDESA's
second dam (following Pangue) on the upper Biobio, is the resettlement
of indigenous families who would be affected by formation of the
reservoir. ENDESA proposes moving these people to other lands it owns.
"The resettlement plan - which has been resubmitted in greater detail
by ENDESA at our request - is well done and assures that, in any
circumstance, the Pehuenche communities will be better off in terms of
quality of life than they would be without the project," said Blanlot,
in a forum on the theme organized by the Engineering School. Despite
this fact, she said that conditions would be imposed to assure that the
program will be well implemented and so that regulatory agencies may
closely monitor the process.
One point which she clarified is that CONAMA's approval does not
include permission to move indigenous lands. "This is a subsequent
process which is the responsibility of the National Corporation for
Indigenous Development (CONADI) which should take into account the
wishes of the Pehuenches," she explained. This month, ENDESA delivered
a second addendum where they detailed the economic compensation that
they would provide in compensation for the negative impacts of the dam.
According to Cristian Maturana, Ralco project manager, who also
participated in the forum, the resettlement plan will cost US$ 12.5
million, which will be used to buy new lands and infrastructure
improvements and services for the 76 affected families. "The cost of a
program of this type, according to the World Bank, is a very good
indicator of measuring its success,: said Maturana, who added that the
Bank found in a study that resettlement plans cost between US$ 2,000
and US$30,000 per capita, while Ralco will cost US$ 31,700 per person.
The dam, upstream from Pangue, will have an installed capacity of 570
MW and will require an investment of about US$ 600 million. Its
reservoir will flood 3,400 hectares with 1.222 billion cubic meters of water.
NATIONAL ENERGY COMMISSION
The executive secretary of the National Energy Commission (CNE), Maria
Isabel Gonzalez, recognized that Ralco is a very good project from the
hydroelectric perspective, but that it is not the only competitive
alternative now that combined cycle plants functioning with natural gas
will enter the system. "Projects today must have greater efficiency in
their construction. In recent months, ENDESA has lowered its estimates
of the costs for Ralco," he said.
He also said that the acceleration of the project - initially estimated
to be generating electricity in 2005, and now scheduled for 2002 - is a
clear sign of the success of the government's strategy of increasing
the level of competence in its electrical generating system. "Given the
existence of the alternative of constructing combined cycle plants,
current owners of water rights have pusehd their generating projects
forward to not lose their market participation," she commented.