Brazil approves €7.7bn Amazon dam

THE massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest won approval from Brazil’s environmental protection agency, Ibama, yesterday, clearing the way for construction of a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists, indigenous activists and celebrities.

The dam would be the world’s third largest, behind China’s Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.

The move allows for full-scale construction of the $11 billion (€7.7bn) project designed to produce 11,000 megawatts of electricity, more than 6% of Brazil’s energy needs.