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

he tale of two dams in Africa - one under construction, the other completed - captures two starkly differing sides to China's image as a major player in the development of hydropower around the world.

The Gibe 3 Dam in Ethiopia, now under construction by Italian hydropower developer Salini…read more

Ethiopia's Gibe 3 Dam is one of the most destructive hydropower projects being built today. If completed, it would destroy fragile ecosystems on which 500,000 poor indigenous people depend for their survival. A worldwide civil society campaign has held international financial institutions…read more