Yesterday, the National Electric Energy Agency authorized the start of commercial operation of the fourth and final generating unit of the Santo Antônio do Jari hydroelectric plant, located on the border between Amapá and Pará. This is the smallest of the machines. Installed in the second powerhouse, its power is just 3.4 megawatts.
It will complement the generation of the three main turbines and allow the plant to operate at full capacity, which is 373.4 MW, enough to meet the consumption of three thousand people. The firm power for the year is 217.7 MW. This energy is already part of the National Integrated System and can be sold on site or at any point of consumption in the country. The plant’s energy will enter the free market on January 1st.
The plant’s owner is the multinational EDP, which operates in 12 countries and is the third largest producer of wind energy in the world. In Brazil, it is present in nine states. The Jari hydroelectric plant, the largest under its control, required an investment of 1.4 billion reais.
It was originally designed to supply energy to the pulp mill that American millionaire Daniel Ludwig set up in the region, now owned by São Paulo businessman Sérgio Amoroso.
The hydroelectric plant operates on a run-of-river basis, with a small reservoir of 31.7 square kilometers formed above the Santo Antônio waterfall, one of the most beautiful in the Amazon, which – at least in theory – will be preserved. The river was diverted on the left bank to be used as a source of energy, in an artificial course. The waters, after being turbinated, return to the natural bed of the Jari, below the waterfalls.
