Energy and sustainability in Antioquia, Colombia

Riogrande II, Porce II, Porce IV El Peñol-Guatapé Porce II Hydroelectric dams in Antioquia Antioquia department produces 30% of Colombia’s energy in 51 hydroelectric dams.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Overview of energy production Activity Installed Capacity Usage of energy produced Country

Energy: a fast growing sector Colombian companies such as EPM plan to meet this demand by creating Hydroelectric Dams such as Porce IV, Ituango, and Hidro-Sogamoso. UPME The Mining and Energy Planning Unit

Investment I Investment Foreign companies Foreign companies at the moment own more than 20% of our installed capacity. The five most important energy companies invested over 1,400 million dollars in 2014, and although the investment in energy will go down in 2015, EPM plans to invest 5,500 million dollars in Ituango Hydroelectric. Owners of our Installed Capacity

Advantages It is a profitable system. The investments made are quickly compensated and profit is quick to appear (1 year). In hydroelectric plants, the resource used is nearly endless from a sustainable and energetic point of view, since Antioquia is located in a region with high pluviosity and mountainous landscapes. River water is a domestic resource which, contrary to fuel or natural gas, is not subject to market fluctuations. River water is a domestic resource which, contrary to fuel or natural gas, is not subject to market fluctuations. Construction of Porce IV dam in Antioquia.

Disadvantages Hydroelectric plants are susceptible to environmental climate changes. Most plants are relatively big and take a long time to build and sustain. The most exploited resource, water, is relatively hard to export, much harder than solid coal or other resources. So energy has to be exported in a ready-to-use form. The country has regions in which there is little or no electricity since reaching to rural locations is hard and very expensive overall. Leaving a portion of the population in economic disadvantage and other underprivileged conditions. Commodities of hydroelectric companies are susceptible to price changes in the land in which plants are built. Use of solar panels in rural areas of Antioquia

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Eutrophication It is a process in which bodies of water gain high amounts of nutrients, specially phosphates and nitrates. This leads to the growth of algae that takes away a great amount of oxygen that causes the death of organisms. Infested area in Porce II Effects of eutrophication in Betania

In Antioquia there are specially three hydroelectric plants affected by this problem: Porce II, Peñol- Guatapé and Riogrande. The algae that grows in there is the 8th of the 10 most invasive weeds, water hyacinth, doubling its area of invasion in two weeks. Peñol-Guatapé Riogrande

Solutions that have been implemented EPM has taken different actions over this issue but hasn’t been able to solve it completely. The actions are divided in four groups. Physical, mechanical, chemical and biological.

Habitat loss When hydroelectric plants are created, the animals that lived in the area are displaced as their habitat gets destroyed. Most of these animals die as the conditions in which they move to are not suitable for their survival.

The hydroelectric plant of El Peñol-Guatapé has 2,262 flooded hectares. In Porce II, there are 890 hectares flooded. Hidroituango will flood 3800 hectares of dry forest, the most threatened ecosystem in the world. This represents a huge habitat loss for all of the animals that live in this area. Porce II Peñol-Guatapé

Solutions that have been implemented The company that builds the hydroelectric plant leaves an important area of forest around the plant as reserve. They also put signs in roads and have meetings with the citizens to tell them how to prevent injuring the animals. Road signs used to show the presence of animals and prevent accidents with them

Our solutions We think that in order to have energy production with less environmental problems we should have more diverse systems like eolic and solar. Also, we think that it would be important to build microcentrals because they do not have so much impact on the environment as large hydroelectric plants. If many are created they can produce an equal or greater amount of energy than a normal size hydroelectric plant.

SOCIAL IMPACT

Advantages that Hidroituango dam construction brings to the community pportunities related to construction and tourismJob opportunities related to construction and tourism Development of infrastructureDevelopment of infrastructure Integration of forgotten communities by the governmentIntegration of forgotten communities by the government Competitiveness and reduction of tariffs in public servicesCompetitiveness and reduction of tariffs in public services Training and education to the communityTraining and education to the community

Disadvantages of the Hidroituango dam construction Forced displacement of people produced by the armed conflict Forced displacement of people produced by the economic project of resources due to destruction of the dry forest Reduction of resources due to destruction of the dry forest Reduction of fishing activities and food sources, since the Cauca river course is being modified Changes in th Changes in the use and ownership of the terrain affect traditional economic activities Diseases caused by stagnant waters.

Protests and social manifestations “Our lands and rivers should be defended." "NO to the hydroelectric dam, let's save our nature”

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