This week's announcement detailing the members of the consortium seeking to build the controversial Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon reveals a striking lack of private sector participation. The 18-member Norte Energia consortium(1) is marked by the absence of key players in the country's dam-building industry. State-owned or state-controlled participation in the consortium totals 77.5 percent, dwarfing the role of private sector investors and reflecting concerns about the financial risks associated with the world's third-largest planned hydroelectric project.

The lack of private sector enthusiasm reflects a series of unanswered questions, including the dam's higher-than-projected construction costs and uncertain generating capacity, as well as doubts about costs stemming from…read more

A group of Kayapo indigenous people led by Chief Megaron Txukarramãe have been blockading the Xingu River crossing of the BR-80 - a major Amazon highway in Mato Grosso State - since April 23 in protest of the government's plans to build the massive Belo Monte Dam. Dozens of Kayapo warriors…read more

Today's bidding process for the controversial Belo Monte Dam project was marked by protests and confusion as a second injunction issued late yesterday suspended the dam auction overnight, throwing the bidding process into a state of chaos just minutes before it was set…read more