Evenkia Dam Project Postponed
The Moscow Times informed that “RusHydro” will not decide on whether to build a dam in Evenkia this year, the company said Friday, after the project was lambasted at public hearings in Krasnoyarsk.
The Energy Ministry has finished work on the 2020 general plan of power generation, which predicts a growth in annual power consumption of up to 3.1 percent through 2030, Prime-Tass reported Thursday. A ministry representative said last week that the Evenkia dam was not included in the plan, which is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval this summer.
Removal of the $21 billion Evenkia dam from the government’s official plan would once again put a hold on the controversial project, which met with fierce resistance from local residents and environmentalists.
Regional lawmakers and scientists discussed the dam Wednesday in the Krasnoyarsk legislative assembly, which said RusHydro had not sufficiently researched the consequences of constructing the dam and asked the government to look into alternative energy sources, according to the draft resolution. RusHydro did not attend the hearing.
Project of Evenki Hydropower Station in Krasnoyarskiy Krai
The construction would flood about 1 million hectares of the unique deciduous forests and pastures traditionally used by the Evenki reindeer herders and hunters. It would also flood a chamber that contains the radioactive brine left as a result of at least one of the underground nuclear explosions fired in the Lower Tunguska’s floodplain in 1970s.
The hydropower construction can bring to the population of Evenkia: destruction of the key traditional nature use territories; flood of the settlements including Tura, the capital of Evenkia; impossibility of navigation of the Lower Tunguska, which means a destruction of the transport system; huge influx of strange population that is well-known for its destructive influence on the indigenous peoples’ life.
incredible, thoose wacko greens have finnaly made people scared .Terrible news.This dam is built in middle of nowhere with less impact then any other dam in the world.Scaremongering tactics from greens is crimminal,scandalous…it would give jobs ,stop young academics going abroad ,provide cheap economy-stimulising electricity….What transport on this completely frozen river most of year??? What oxygen producing in taiga where its dark 6 months of year?? I guess thoose greens newed to justify their gas guzzling mercedeses they have,!!!! russia will never be a superpower with this attitude.Where are they going to get 50 billion kwh ? From wind ?? hahahahahaaaa………
Chineese are building tens of dams some bigger then this one ,and dont give a damn about what wwf or others say about it.Thats why they have continued growth.Oh well im sure chineese will built it once they reclaim siberia,from impoverished russia in the future.