Category: Chilean Patagonia

Chile’s environmentally fragile and unique Patagonia region is one of the world’s last areas of wilderness to have remained largely untouched by the ravaging development of modern industry. Because of a proposed plan to build five large hydroelectric dams on Patagonian rivers that would also require building the world’s longest power transmission corridor to connect the dams to Chile’s power markets in the north, the region’s delicate ecology is facing a very serious threat.

Chile’s Hidroaysen threaten animal species, says CBI report

(October 27, 2008) The controversial HidroAysén hydroelectric dam project proposed for southern Chile’s Patagonia will put numerous native species at risk, according to a report by the Oregon-based Conservation Biology Institute (CBI). Threatened species include salmon on the Baker River, the torrent duck and Chile’s emblematic huemul deer.

Chilean Patagonia Without Dams

(October 16, 2008) A leading Chilean environmental activist, Juan Pablo Orrego will share his analysis of hydroelectric mega-projects proposed for Chilean Patagonia, and will also explore the broader context of economic and political power that shapes energy policy in Chile and contrains opportunities for meaningful democratic process on environmental questions.

Chile’s Hidroaysen may flood Patagonia park

(September 17, 2008) In addition to displacing 14 families and flooding major sections of Region XI’s Baker and Pascua river valleys, the controversial HidroAysén dam project – by the company’s own admission – looks to encroach on a nearby national park. HidroAysén is a joint entity created in 2006 by Spanish- Italian electricity giant Endesa and Chilean utility Colbún. HidroAysén project would flood portions of the Baker river valley.

Hidroaysen submits plan for Patagonia’s hydroelectric project

(August 15, 2008) Electric Power Congolmerate Hopes to Dam Chile’s Pascua and Baker Rivers Multinational energy congolmerate HidroAysén submitted its environmental impact statement to the Chilean government Thursday morning, outlining its plans to dam the Baker and Pascua Rivers in Chile’s southern Patagonia region. The proposed project includes five massive hydroelectric dams that have come under fierce criticism from environmentalists around the world.

Doug Tompkins: Environmental evaluation system a "farce"

(February 4, 2008) HidroAysen, a joint entity formed by Spanish-Italian electricity giant Endesa and Colbun, a Chilean energy company, plans to build five massive hydroelectric dams along Region XI’s Baker and Pascua Rivers. The Baker River, Chile’s largest, is in fact just a few miles from Tompkins’ Estancia Chacabuco, a massive stretch of pristine steppe land that Tompkins would eventually like to donate to the Chilean government.