It took just a handful of fishermen and artisans from the tiny village of Totoral in northern Chile to threaten a $5 billion coal-fired thermoelectric plant desperately needed by nearby copper mines.
The remote, verdant village of Totoral’s bid to block Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista’s huge Central Castilla power project on environmental grounds is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.
The plant aims to provide power to major mining projects in the Atacama desert region, but residents say its emissions will harm air quality and that the temperature of water released back into the ocean will hurt fish and marine life.
Their case is seen as a litmus test for a string of other potential flashpoints in Chile, the world’s top copper producer.
Protest groups are challenging high inequality in Chile – for long Latin America’s poster child economy – and demanding that the benefits of its long mining boom be spread more widely.
They also want stricter environmental protections across Chile, from the Atacama desert in the north to Patagonia in the south, and the challenges have put major projects at risk.
Chile’s shaky energy grid needs significant new investment after years of neglect, exacerbated by a devastating 2010 earthquake and droughts. But the mounting opposition to hydro-power, coal-fired thermoelectric plants and wind farm projects is worrying investors.
“There’s a very significant supply problem so if investment is delayed … we could have a very sharp energy crisis in the coming years,” said Jorge Rodriguez, president of electric firm Guacolda.
A former mining minister and board president of the state-owned mining giant Codelco, Rodriguez said protests against energy projects could cause serious damage to the economy and push mining firms to look elsewhere for their next projects.
Chicago Tribune