Colombia: Delays to Chinese-financed Hidroituango dam raises questions on hydropower reliance
"Are large hydropower projects still viable in Colombia?" 25 May 2022
The construction of Colombia’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Hidroituango, hasn’t been straightforward. In many ways, it’s been something of a catastrophe. Due to the various delays in its construction and an increasing awareness of the enormous socio-environmental impacts it has brought about, many observers believe it will likely be the last large dam project seen in the country for some time to come.
The controversial project has cost 16.2 trillion pesos (US$4.1 billion) funded partly with Chinese capital. Finance came from the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, administered by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. [...]
Professor Torres explains that these projects generate environmental and social impacts, but in order to make them viable it is necessary to see which ones can be corrected, mitigated or compensated. For example, construction on the El Quimbo dam, in the country’s south, began despite enormous opposition from nearby communities that were to be displaced by its arrival. Evictions were controversial, but the project went into operation at the end of 2015, and had an ecological restoration plan in place covering 11,000 hectares adjacent to the reservoir. [...]
Diálogo Chino sought comment from the Colombian government’s National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA), but received no response. [...]
Given the high socio-environmental costs of hydroelectric plants, and after the Hidroituango experience, experts agree that it is unlikely that large dams will be built again in Colombia. [...]