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Millions and millions for nothing: Portezuelo del Viento, one step away from falling and another provincial "water war" emerges
The Mendoza government requested permission to use the dollars transferred by the Nation in other energy projects. La Pampa and San Juan battle for another river
The realization of the so-called "project of the century" is two steps away from collapsing completely. After accumulating multimillion-dollar disbursements made continuously by the national government, Mendoza requested authorization to invest the funds obtained in other energy works to be developed in the provincial territory. In other words, Portezuelo del Viento, a project valued at more than 1,000 million dollars, is slowly dying out.
As iProfesional learned from sources linked to the project, Mendoza Governor Rodolfo Suárez asked the Nation for permission to allocate the 1,023 million dollars destined for the dam to other works aimed at generating electricity and improving provincial water performance.
The construction of Portezuelo del Viento was tied to the definition of an arbitration award by President Alberto Fernández after the opposition to the project expressed by the provinces of La Pampa, Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Neuquén. In Mendoza they practically take it for granted that the president will rule in favor of the opponents of the hydroelectric project.
Today, the work is held back by constant complaints of lack of environmental impact studies. If Portezuelo del Viento ends up falling, the Cuyo government would advance with the El Baqueano dams, to be developed in San Rafael and on the Diamante River, and Uspallata, in Las Heras and on the Mendoza River.
The governor of Mendoza requested permission to use the millions that the Nation gave him in other works.
The governor of Mendoza requested permission to use the millions that the Nation gave him in other works.
Where will the millions of Portezuelo del Viento go?
The drawback for Mendoza is that both initiatives lack feasibility studies. Another bet that Suárez would motorize from the millions that Nation approached him consists of a work plan prepared by the General Department of Irrigation.
It includes 31 piping works to be carried out in the basins of the Tunuyán Inferior, Tunuyán Superior, Mendoza, Atuel and Diamante rivers. The projects would demand disbursements for almost 380 million dollars. The Governor would also allocate another 11.6 million dollars for the construction of the Monte Comán-La Horqueta aqueduct.
The almost collapsed Portezuelo del Viento project includes the installation of a hydroelectric plant to be built on the Rio Grande, in the Cuyo department of Malargüe. For its development, Nación made 10 payments and Mendoza will receive another million on the 28th of this month.
At the beginning of the year, the Cuyo government received 52.7 million dollars and the commitment of the Casa Rosada is to transfer that figure every quarter until October 2024. Everything indicates that the dollars will continue to travel to that province, although with a different destination. .
Strategic domain of the Colorado River
The districts that reject the Portezuelo del Viento dam assure that the undertaking will give Mendoza strategic domain of the entire Colorado River basin.
Chinese interference in the project also fueled unrest around the hydroelectric project. It happens that, although in a joint venture with IMPSA, Obras Andinas SA –owned by Omar Álvarez, José Luis Manzanos partner in other projects– and CEOSA –controlled by Fernando Porretta–, the eastern firm Sinohidro remained the only bidder in the process for the hydroelectric construction.
Among the agreements recently signed by the national president with his Asian counterpart Xi Jinping, this within the framework of Argentinas adherence to the Belt and Road Initiative, China made it clear that one of its great objectives is to consolidate the participation of power in large-scale domestic energy projects. Portezuelo del Viento appears on the list of Asian bets in the country.
“Large energy ventures are relevant to China in terms of selling technology and employing its skilled workforce. Thats why so much interest in such big projects. Without a doubt, for Sinohidro the development of Portezuelo del Viento is a business priority”, an expert in international relations told iProfesional.
Portezuelo del Viento faces opposition from La Pampa, Buenos Aires,
Portezuelo del Viento faces opposition from La Pampa, Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Neuquén.
Another "water war" that begins
Along with the situation in Mendoza, this month another conflict linked to the control of rivers and water reserves began to take shape. The province of San Juan began the construction of the El Tambolar hydroelectric plant on the homonymous river and quickly obtained the approval of La Pampa.
According to this last province, the initiative implies the diversion of the San Juan river, a source that integrates the interprovincial basin of the Desaguadero-Salado-Chadileuvú-Curacó-Colorado river. The crossing between San Juan and La Pampa is long-standing: already in 2018, the Pampas provincial administration filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Justice against the province of Cuyo for the development of different reservoirs. |
