The first turbines at Brazil’s Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant were officially put into operation in May 2016 by the former President, Dilma Rousseff.

An expected 11,233 megawatts of power should make it the third-largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. Completion is scheduled for 2019 with the aim of providing electricity for up to 60 million people. Mrs. Rousseff stated that the project, originally started in the 1970s, would make “an important contribution to the development of Brazil” and help guarantee a reliable power supply for this economically growing country. Environmentalists see the issue differently, having occupied the construction site several times and achieved numerous building stops with court injunctions over the past few years. They have criticised the extreme effects on the environment, and the expulsion of up to 40,000 local inhabitants caused by the building of this immense dam.