The care taken by Itaipu Binacional for the water security of the reservoir and the conservation of biodiversity are essential for the generation of energy, defended the Brazilian general director of the company, general Joaquim Silva e Luna. This Tuesday and Wednesday (21 and 22), he took a tour by land and air in the region of the plant, and also by boat in the reservoir, accompanied by the Director of Coordination, general Luiz Felipe Carbonell, and technicians from the binational.

The itinerary included Canal da Piracema, Bela Vista Biological Refuge, reservoir protection strip, aquaculture and recycling projects (both in Santa Terezinha de Itaipu), indigenous villages of Añetete and Itamarã (in Diamante D'Oeste) and Santa Helena spa. . The program also included helicopter overflights of the reservoir, protected areas, recovered watersheds and agricultural areas with soil conservation actions, in addition to the Santa Maria Biodiversity Corridor.

“For a lot of people, the relationship with energy is turning on the light at the press of a button. They are unaware of the entire path that electricity has taken and all the work behind it, ”said the director. “Itaipu's mission is to generate energy with quality. And people need to know what that means. All this care for water and the environment is a reflection of this mission ”, he added.

Along the way, the director had the opportunity to meet with the mayors of Santa Terezinha de Itaipu, Cláudio Eberhard; Diamante D’Oeste, Guilherme Pivatto Junior; and from Santa Helena, Evandro Miguel Grade (Zado), in addition to leaders of fishermen, recyclable and indigenous collectors, with whom he reinforced the company's commitment to continue working in partnership, in favor of territorial development.

In addition to the environment, the company's actions have positive social impacts. Formed in 2004, the Association of Recyclable and Reusable Waste Collectors (Acaresti), with support from the company and the city government, processes 120 thousand kilos of recyclable material per month.

Recognized with several awards, the project is considered a reference, as it allows the recycling of more than 70% of the municipality's waste. For the worker, the project guarantees dignity, an average monthly income of R $ 1,700 and professional recognition for acting as an environmental agent.

Another vulnerable group, that of artisanal fishermen, also manages to guarantee a minimum family income thanks to the support of Itaipu. Ponto de Pesca 5, in Santa Terezinha, is one of 45 active on the Brazilian margin of the reservoir. In order to reduce extraction and decrease the fishing stock, fishermen receive equipment and training to grow fish in net-tanks.

"Itaipu's help is very important for us and will allow us to increase the number of tanks and also the income", said José Amâncio Rodrigues, Zé Barba, representative of the 10 families who live at Ponto de Pesca 5. There , 48 tanks guarantee an annual production of 15 to 20 tons, which provides a minimum wage for each family. Income is supplemented by extractive fishing, which tends to decrease with the gradual increase in aquaculture.

The itinerary ended at the Itaipu office in Santa Helena, where company technicians detailed actions such as the protection of fauna and flora, research and the promotion of sustainable techniques in agriculture and the monitoring of water quality. The bathymetry of the reservoir (which regularly measures depths, accompanying the deposition of sediments) allows us to estimate the plant's useful life at 184 years.

By promoting these environmental initiatives, Itaipu aims to reduce the deposition of sediments and micropollutants that, in the long run, could compromise the useful life of the reservoir. And, consequently, maintain its strategic importance for Brazil and Paraguay. Over the past five years, the company had an average annual generation of 92 million megawatt-hours, accounting for about 15% of Brazilian consumption and 90% of Paraguayan.

“That is why, in addition to all the work carried out by the Technical Directorate, in the operation and maintenance of the generating units and in the constant improvement of productivity indexes, care for the region is essential for the generation of energy and sustainability, in the long term ”, Summed up Carbonell.

Quality 

Silva and Luna said that he was positively surprised by the richness of the data presented. “The quality of the work carried out by the Coordination Directorate in caring for the reservoir, the protection strip and the adjacent watersheds is surprising. It is a job that needs to be increasingly known, ”he said. “When we talk about a 184-year useful life, people need to know that it is a concrete fact, the result of a high-level study.”

The director recalled that 2019 was a complex year, given the need to restructure the company's activities in Foz do Iguaçu and renegotiate the commercialization of energy with Paraguay, allowing greater predictability in the budget in the next four years, among other measures that aim to prepare the company for the post-2023 scenario, when Annex C expires (the part that has the financial issues of the Itaipu Treaty). "In 2020, we will deal with processes, seeking to do more and better with the people who are part of the company, now that all of our activities are concentrated in Foz do Iguaçu".

See below some of the main data on Itaipu's actions in the region:

- Itaipu preserves more than 100 thousand hectares of protected areas;

- 35 species of animals have already been reproduced in the Bela Vista Biological Refuge;

- The Itaipu nursery is responsible for the average annual production of 347 thousand seedlings of about 110 species native to the Atlantic Forest;

- In the last 10 years, almost 3 million seedlings have been distributed to 43 municipalities in the region;

- With 10 km long, the Piracema Canal is used by 186 species of fish;

- More than 6,800 fish have already received electronic tags and were monitored along the Paraná River Basin;

- Itaipu supports the cultivation of fish in net tanks. The annual production in the reservoir reaches 120 tons;

- More than 900 hectares of native forest are preserved in the Santa Maria Biodiversity Corridor, allowing the connection between the Iguaçu National Park and the protected areas of Itaipu;

- Around 290 indigenous families are served in three villages in agricultural activities, promoting culture, infrastructure and food and nutritional security;

- As ações de conservação de solos totalizam quase 50 mil hectares de áreas agrícolas;

- Quase 300 nascentes das microbacias da região estão georeferenciadas e protegidas;

- A recuperação e cascalhamento de estradas rurais chega a quase 4 mil quilômetros.