{{Short description|Dam in Amazonas, Brazil}} {{Infobox dam | name = Balbina Dam | image = Balbina Dam-1.jpg | image_caption = | name_official = | dam_crosses = Uatumã River | location = Amazonas, Brazil | dam_type = | dam_length = {{Convert|2920|m|abbr=on}} | dam_height = {{Convert|33|m|abbr=on}} | dam_width_base = | spillway_type = | spillway_capacity = | construction_began = 1985 | opening = 1989 | cost = | owner = | res_name = Balbina Reservoir | res_capacity_total = {{Convert|17.54|km3|acre.ft|abbr=on}} | res_catchment = {{Convert|16502|km2||abbr=on}} | res_surface = {{Convert|2360|km2|abbr=on}} | res_max_depth = {{Convert|30|m|abbr=on}} | plant_operator = Manaus Energia | plant_turbines = 5 × {{convert|50|MW|abbr=on}} | plant_capacity = {{convert|250|MW|abbr=on}} | plant_annual_gen = | plant_commission =1989 | plant_decommission = | location_map = | location_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|01|55|02|S|59|28|25|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | website = | extra = }}
The '''Balbina Dam''' ({{langx|pt|Usina Hidrelétrica de Balbina}}) is a hydroelectric dam and power station on the Uatumã River in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil. The location is under the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo jurisdiction, in the state of Amazonas.
==Structure==
The Balbina Dam was built from 1985 to 1989 and is managed by Manaus Energia, under the Eletronorte system. The first of five generators began operating in February 1989. The dam has an installed capacity of {{convert|250|MW}} and floods a {{Convert|2360|km2|adj=on}} area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.industcards.com/hydro-brazil.htm |title=Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil |access-date=2010-04-08 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630125658/http://www.industcards.com/hydro-brazil.htm |archive-date=2012-06-30 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>{{sfn|Philip M. Fearnside|2006}}
==Controversy== The dam was established to provide a renewable electricity supply to the city of Manaus but was considered by locals a controversial project from the start, due to the loss of forest and displacement of tribal homes grounds.{{sfn|Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo – CEPA}} About {{convert|2928.5|km2}} of land formerly occupied by the Waimiri-Atroari was removed from the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Territory and flooded.{{sfn|Baines|2008|p=50}} The dam was also criticized for its expensive construction and maintenance costs.{{sfn|Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo – CEPA}} As a result of the methane released from its vast reservoir, proportional to its output, the Balbina Dam emits ten times more greenhouse gases than a coal plant.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dams in the Amazon: The rights and wrongs of Belo Monte|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21577073-having-spent-heavily-make-worlds-third-biggest-hydroelectric-project-greener-brazil|accessdate=5 May 2013|newspaper=The Economist|date=4 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grossman |first1=Daniel |title=Deliberate drowning of Brazil's rainforest is worsening climate change |journal=New Scientist |date=18 September 2019 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24332480-200-deliberate-drowning-of-brazils-rainforest-is-worsening-climate-change/ |accessdate=23 September 2019}}</ref> The dam is the least efficient in Brazil in terms of the area flooded for each megawatt generated.{{sfn|Sobre a RDS – RDS do Uatumã|loc=Geografia}}
==Conservation== The lake and island ecosystems formed by the dam are protected by the {{convert|938720|ha}} Uatumã Biological Reserve, a strictly protected conservation unit created in 2002.{{sfn|Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica do Uatumã}} The west shore is protected by the {{convert|374700|ha}} Caverna do Maroaga Environmental Protection Area, established in 1990.{{sfn|APA Caverna do Maroaga ... ISA|loc=Informações gerais (mapa)}} Downstream from the dam the Uatumã runs through the {{convert|424,430|ha}} Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve, created in 2004.{{sfn|RDS do Uatumã – ISA|loc=Características}} The dam regulates the river flow through the reserve, and reduces seasonal flooding.{{sfn|Sobre a RDS – RDS do Uatumã|loc=Geografia}}
== See also == {{Portal|Brazil|Water|Renewable energy}} * List of power stations in Brazil
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
==Sources== {{Commons category}} {{Refbegin}} *{{citation|ref={{harvid|APA Caverna do Maroaga ... ISA}}|language=Portuguese |title=APA Caverna do Maroaga (Presidente Figueiredo)|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental |url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/pt-br/uc/1709|accessdate=2016-10-20}} *{{citation |last=Baines|first=Stephen G.|editor=Adolfo de Oliveira|title=Decolonising Indigenous Rights |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xdp-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|accessdate=2016-07-29|date=2008-10-27|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-30076-1 |chapter=The Reconstruction of Waimiri-Atroari Territory}} *{{citation |ref={{harvid|Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo – CEPA}} |title=Balbina, a hidrelétrica que não deu certo|publisher=CEPA: Centro de Ensino e Pesquisa Aplicada |url=http://www.cepa.if.usp.br/energia/energia1999/Grupo2B/Hidraulica/balbina.htm |accessdate=2016-07-29}} *{{citation|author=Philip M. Fearnside|title= Balbina Dam, Amazonas |publisher=Department of Ecology, National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA)|date=2006-08-26|doi=10.1007/BF01867675|s2cid= 154405904 }} *{{citation|ref={{harvid|RDS do Uatumã – ISA}}|language=Portuguese |title=RDS do Uatumã|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental |url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/uc/6832|accessdate=2016-07-25}} *{{citation|ref={{harvid|Sobre a RDS – RDS do Uatumã}}|language=Portuguese|title=Sobre a RDS|publisher=RDS do Uatumã|url=http://www.uatuma.org.br/sobre-a-rds/|accessdate=2016-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917103448/http://www.uatuma.org.br/sobre-a-rds/|archive-date=2016-09-17|url-status=dead}} *{{citation|ref={{harvid|Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica do Uatumã}}|language=Portuguese |title=Unidade de Conservação: Reserva Biológica do Uatumã|publisher=MMA: Ministério do Meio Ambiente |url=http://sistemas.mma.gov.br/cnuc/index.php?ido=relatorioparametrizado.exibeRelatorio&relatorioPadrao=true&idUc=213|accessdate=2016-04-18}} {{Refend}}
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Category:Dams completed in 1989 Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1989 Category:Dams in Amazonas (Brazilian state) Category:Hydroelectric power stations in Brazil