Five hydroelectric projects in the Peruvian Amazon that would generate electricity for consumption within the country and abroad would require more than $7 million in investment, AméricaEconomía reported Monday.
All five projects, located in Amazonas region in northern Peru, would bring over 8,000 jobs to the rural region according to José Arista Arbildo, president of the Gobierno Regional de Amazonas (Regional Government of Amazonas—GRA). This would help Amazonas ease its dependence on agricultural products and transition into a sustainable-energy producing region, Arista said. Two of the projects have already been approved by Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines and are projected to be completed in approximately five years. The other three projects are still in the evaluation phase and will not begin construction until 2018.
Similar hydroelectric energy projects have been halted or blocked in Brazil and Chile for failing to properly consult Indigenous communities that would be adversely affected in a legal mechanism known as consulta previa or prior consultation. Inambari, a hydroelectric plant on the border with Brazil has been stalled since 2011 due to environmentalist and Indigenous protests.
