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Home › Dodgy Deals ›
Dodgy Deal
Patuca III dam project (Piedras Amarillas)Honduras

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Contact:

Johan Frijns, BankTrack

Last update: 2016-11-01 14:56:26

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Contact:

Johan Frijns, BankTrack

Last update: 2016-11-01 14:56:26
Why this profile?

What must happen

Following the Inter-American Development Bank, ICBC must withdraw from the project and ensure that construction is stopped until careful consultation of affected people has taken place and environmental impacts are properly investigated.

About
Sectors Hydroelectric Power Generation
Location

The Patuca River is the second-longest river in Central America, flowing through the largest protected area of Honduras: the Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve. The planned Patuca III dam will consist of a 57-metre high concrete wall over a length of 203 metres. The dam will have a maximum installed capacity of 104 megawatts. The dam site is located in the Eastern part of Honduras, about five kilometres downstream of the confluence of the Guyape and Guayambre rivers in the department of Olancho.

The dam project's negative impact is threefold: first, the river's and surrounding area's rich biodiversity will be severely damaged; second, the food security of local residents (including indigenous peoples) will be threatened; and third, remote rainforest areas will be opened up for illegal activities such as logging.

The dam is part of three hydropower projects on the Patuca River, of which Patuca III is the first to be constructed. Constructions have already started. Along with the dams Patuca IIa (La Tarrosa) and Patuca IIb (La Valencia), the complex is planned to generate a total of 520 megawatts of electricity.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

About 400 properties will be directly affected by the construction of the Patuca III dam. In 2010, the Honduran government adopted a decree that forced residents to negotiate the sale of their property, under penalty of expropriation. When a first agreement on the properties' values was reached, ENEE immediately adopted the land titles without preliminar compensation. Part of the compensations has been payed, but mostly to the larger landowners. A majority of (smaller) landowners is still awaiting their compensation.

Construction of the Patuca III dam project has started without any preliminar consultation of affected people, despite the fact that the dam is likely to negatively impact both Tawahka and Miskito indigenous communities that are located downstream. Damming the river will alter the seasonal flooding of land, which is crucial for its fertility. The indigenous communities are highly dependent on the river for their livelihoods, for food and transportation.

The lack of consulting the affected indigenous peoples is a violation of ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, signed and voted for by the government of Honduras.


Environmental and climate impacts

Patuca River is the second-largest river in Central America and flows through the Moskitia reserve, the largest forest conservation area in Latin America north of the Amazon. This remote and thinly populated rainforest area has a great biodiversity and is a habitat for many endangered species. The construction of the dam is feared to alter this fragile ecosystem. The conducted Environmental Impact Assessment has failed to adequately investigate downstream impacts, let alone the combined impact of all three dams on the Patuca River that are planned. 

Furthermore, environmentalists fear the now remote area may be opened up to logging and plantation activities when access roads are constructed. Especially palm and banana plantations are growing in size and number over the last years in Honduras.

Financiers
Institution type
Finance type
Year
Companies

ENEE (Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica)

Honduras
Website
Coordinator of the project, ownership through its subsidiary UEPER

Sinohydro

China
Website
In April 2011, Sinohydro signed a contract with ENEE to build the first phase of the project, at the cost of USD 50,5 million.

UEPER

Honduras
Website
Supervising construction, design and operation of the Patuca III, IIa and IIb dams.
No companies
Governance
Norms & standards

Applicable norms and standards

International Labour Organization Convention 169
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
News
BankTrack
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External
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Damming the Patuca

2016-06-30 | International Rivers
Resources
Documents
Images
Videos
Links
2016-05-30 00:00:00

Honduras: Patuca river and communities under threat

NGO document
2016-05-30 00:00:00 | International Rivers
2007-12-15 00:00:00

Environmental Flow Assessment for the Patuca River, Honduras:

Maintaining ecological health below the proposed Patuca III Hydroelectric Project
Company document
2007-12-15 00:00:00 | The Nature Conservancy - ENEE

Río Patuca Map

2011-05-15

Patuca III dam project (Piedras Amarillas)

Overview of the construction site, August 2013.
2016-07-13 11:27:45

Patuca III (Piedras Amarillas) Hydroelectric Project

Informational page on ENEE's (Honduras' National Electrical Energy Company) website.
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