Chile

Endesa, controlled by the Italian giant Enel, is the majority stakeholder in HidroAysén

HidroAysén is an Italian-Chilean joint venture to build 5 dams on the biggest and wildest rivers in Patagonia.

Pinochet gave away the water rights to Patagonia's rivers in the last weeks of his dictatorship

The cold hard facts of Chile's history make the Patagonia dams controversy one of the planet's emblematic natural resource conflicts.

Rescue Efforts to Locate 3 Men on the Remote Río Cuervo Have Been Futile

With "open season" declared on Patagonia's rivers, the costs and risks of building dams in Patagonia are now fatally apparent.

Aerial View of Patagonia's Baker River

Yesterday, with a press release published on Burson-Marsteller letterhead, the HidroAysén company announced their intent to postpone until October of this year the resubmission of their project to environmental review.

As the rivers of Patagonia prepare for the open season onslaught of mega-hydroelectric development, and as Chile motors towards presidential elections, getting up to date news from the long thin country becomes a priority.

Our partners at Ecosistemas are getting close to launching the Patagonia Sin Represas music album, with songs written and created by Chilean and international artists specifically for the campaign to protect Patagonia from massive hydroelectric development. 

New design plans for San Pedro project that were approved without environmental review

The Chilean energy company Colbún, controlled by the Matte Group and partner with Endesa in the HidroAysén mega-project, has initiated blasting at the site on the San Pedro River where they intend to build a 144 MW dam.