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São Luiz do Tapajós Dam

Pará, Brazil

The 14th largest power station in the world

8.04 GW · Capacity

The São Luiz do Tapajós Dam was a planned hydroelectric dam expected to be the third largest hydroelectric dam in Brazil, after Itaipu and Belo Monte Dam. It would have an installed capacity of 8,040 MW and its reservoir would cover about 400 km2 in the Tapajós river basin. The plant would have been part of the proposed 12,000 megawatts (16, 000, 000 hp) Tapajós hydroelectric complex on the Tapajos and Jamanxim rivers. Others are the Jatobá, Cachoeira dos Patos, Jamanxim and Cachoeira do Cai dams, all in Pará state. In April 2016 IBAMA suspended the environmental licensing process for the dam due to its expected impacts on indigenous and river communities. In August that year, IBAMA finally announced the official cancellation of the project's environmental license, which effectively stopped the dam. The conflict around the São Luiz do Tapajós mega dam has been referred as the next battle over saving the Amazon, as a result of its controversy involving Indigenous communities, the Brazilian government, large multinationals and international environmental organizations. Critics say the project will further result in deforestation and harm to the region's biodiversity, affecting the migratory movements of several species of ornamental fish and destroying nests of Macaw.

Power station data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

More power stations in Brazil

  1. Belo Monte Dam11 GW
  2. Tucuruí Dam8.54 GW
  3. Jirau Dam3.75 GW
  4. Santo Antônio Dam3.57 GW
  5. Ilha Solteira Dam3.44 GW

Other large power stations worldwide

  1. Bui Dam · Ghana1,440 GW
  2. Western Green Energy Hub · Australia50 GW
  3. Gujarat Hybrid Renewable Energy Park · India30 GW
  4. Three Gorges Dam · China22.5 GW
  5. Baihetan Dam · China16 GW
  6. Itaipu Dam · Paraguay14 GW
  7. Xiluodu Dam · China13.86 GW
  8. Belo Monte Dam · Brazil11 GW