Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Cohora Bassa Dam Case Study
- On the Zambizie River, Mozambique
- 52% below poverty line
- Low life expectancy (52 years)
- The original plan for the dam
- Generate HEP for rural areas of Mozambique
- Sell excess generated power
- A source of sustainable and
renewable energy
- Reduce risk of occasional flooding
- In 1978 flood, 45 people died, 100,000 displaced, $62mil of damage
- TECHNOCENTRIC AND TOP DOWN
- No local community involvement, all
decisions made by governments
(mainly Portugal)
- Mozambique elisted S.Africa to build the complicated transmission
system of part of the dam, as well as a lot of the whole dam itself
- On condition that it supplied S.Africa with energy
- Funded by Portugal through BILATERAL AID
- Portugal had to own 82% of the dam
- (Portugal made most of the profits)
- in 1975 Portugal sold Mozambique back the majority of the dam, but keeping 15%
- Made $2.2 billion from this sale
- Success?
- Due to climate (drought) there are high levels of evaporation in the reservoir giving high levels of salinity
- Led to a decline in the Shrimp industry
- However other fisheries developed, as large colonies of Kapenta fish thrive behind the dam
- 10,000 tonnes as of 2003
- A flood in 2013 killed 73
and displaced 10,000
- Lack of fine alluvium deposits
further downstream as
blocked by dams
- Less fertile soils impacting
on farmers and food supply
- Rare species of Bull Shark trapped
behind dam in high salinity conditions
- Civil war and insurgent attacks
delayed the building of the dam
- Estimated to have cost $3.8billion
- Due to slow river velocity and low levels of
rainfall the dam only provides 1% of its energy
to rural areas
- Most of the energy produced was sold
to S.Africa to aid in its development,
specifically during the 2010 world cup