Fonte: ANEEL
The Solicitor-General of the Union (Advocacia-Geral da União – AGU) has demonstrated, in the Federal Court of Pará, the environmental license for the construction of the Belo Monte Hydropower plant, on the Xingu River bed, met all environmental requirements. With this decision, the legality of the release for construction of the plant was ensured.

The Federal Public Ministry (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) filed a public civil action seeking the annulment of the Preliminary License No. 342/2010 by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA), the Proclamation No. 006/2009 of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) and the Declaration of Water Availability of Resolution No. 740/2009 issued by the National Water Agency (ANA). For the MPF, the work would affect indigenous lands in Paquiçamba, Arara da Volta Grande and Juruna, with reduced possibility of navigation on the Xingu river, fishing, and performing rituals of indigenous and riverine communities of the region.

The energy auction of the Belo Monte Hydropower Plant was conducted by ANEEL on April 20, 2010. On the occasion, Norte Energia consortium was the winner with the price bid of R$ 78 per megawatt-hour (R$/MWh), which represented a discount of 6.02% from the initial price of R$ 83 per MWh.

The Plant’s minimum installed capacity of 11,233.1 MW is the third largest in the world, after the Three Gorges Plant, on the Yangtze River in China, with 22,500 MW of power, and the binational Itaipu Plant, located in Rio Paraná, on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, with the capacity to generate 14,000 MW.(PG/AGU/PGE)