For The Love Of Port

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2016/ ... hers-pace/

Your comments appreciated.

A little late trying to stop it now, isn't it?

Some interesting comments from an article I googled on this dam:

"For this country in crisis, investments are important. Portugal received over 635 million euro in advance payments from the power companies for licenses. The fudns were used to patch the budget deficit.

In addition to the debt crisis, China looms in the backgrund. Portugal’s largest company, the power company EDP was purchased by Chinese investors in the midst of the debt crisis some three years ago. China’s state owned flamboyant Three Gorges Group acquired the Portuguese State’s share with EUR 2.7 billion and promised to invest an additional two billion more in the EDP.

Out of this, some EUR 370 million is spent in Foz Tua.

“The dam will become a tourist attraction”, EDP’s project manager Paulo Figueira boasts in the middle of the busy construction site.

He leads the way into acgaping hole tunnel in the slope. The power plant machinery will be placed here, almost completely hidden in the rock as a concession to the opponents. The internationally reknowlned architect, Eduardo Souto de Moura, leads the planning the of the building.

“The dam reservoir will begin to attract people to go fishing and boating. We are helping to create jobs”, the project leader believes.

http://www.salvarotua.org/pt/giant-dam- ... -12112014/

As far as dams go, it is pretty cool looking: http://www.peri.com/en/projects/water-r ... a-dam.html

... a project that does not bring any advantage for the territory or its inhabitants.

Well, it is going to generate electricity, using a renewable source. And this makes the issue brought up at the end of the article about coastal erosion particularly ironic to me. Would you rather have a dam up the river on a tributary 100 miles away from the coast generating electricity, or instead burn coal to make the equivalent 262 MW of power, with the resulting CO2 contributing to sea level rise and coastal erosion?

Lots of different point of view about this project! You can find a lot of benifits on either side.

I've been following it for a few months now, my biggest concern first would be like some mentionned in videos on Youtube "Why build a damn that will add only 0,5% of new electricity?" It seems to be a huge investment for only a small return.

As Stewart mentionned, there are some Chinease interest behind this. What worries me is that nowadays 95% of the investment in the country coming from outside of Portugal is from China.

Frederick Blais wrote: As Stewart mentionned, there are some Chinease interest behind this. What worries me is that nowadays 95% of the investment in the country coming from outside of Portugal is from China.

What do the Chinese get out of this?

Big water projects are happening all across the world, even more in emerging countries. Usually outside money, backed by an International Bank, comes in and controls the project. In Panama, indigenous populations are being displaced , for projects of no value to the local community, yet their countries get the debt and the bankers the lion share of benefits. Some say it's water grab. I guess if you are interested, to look things up and decide for yourselves.

This is very different, it is a dam for hydro-electric purposes and has nothing to do with creating/providing a renewable source of water.

Roy Hersh wrote:This is very different, it is a dam for hydro-electric purposes and has nothing to do with creating/providing a renewable source of water.

This a dam shame.