Centrais geradoras hidrelétricas: uma análise procedimental de sua aprovação e viabilidade

Abstract

The Small Hydropower Plants (SHPs), defined by Brazil Federal Law 13.360, from November 17th of 2016, as hydroelectric plants with capacity up to 5 MW, are plants with lower environmental impacts, when compared to larger hydropower plants, due to its small size and absence of reservoir. The SHP just utilizes water drop force and does not need the implementation of a reservoir to its operation, having zero overflows in SHP upstream properties. Besides that, a SHP is built in 12 months or less, and the number of workers is small. This actual research has the main objective of proposing guidelines to the procedure analysis of SHPs environmental licensing. In order to do that, the Brazilian electric overview was studied, with focus on SHPs viability. With the selection of two licensed SHPs of Minas Gerais state as study objects, it was possible to check its viability procedures in a general way. The studies allowed to verify that SHPs environmental licensing in Brazil takes much more time that it should take, because of how environmental agencies deal with them, mostly by analyzing them with the same criteria that they analyze larger hydropower plants. Considering this facts, the following guidelines were proposed to the environmental licensing analyzing procedures: to be faster and more flexible, by digitalizing all protocols and environmental licensing documents, and by enhancing the relationship between environmental agencies and entrepreneurs; to effectively fulfill the analysis deadlines and license concessions; to correctly categorize the SHPs in the environmental licensing legislations; and to improve quality of companies environmental statements by doing rigorous quality control.