Abstract
Brazil has an energy matrix which is based on 45% of renewable sources, and more than 70 % of this electricity is drawn from hydroelectric plants. The present work tries to show how big hydroelectric projects, even if it is globally acknowledged as clean, can hide several threats for both humans and the environment. With this aim, the analytical tool of cost–benefit analysis (CBA) has been applied on two hydroelectric projects: the Tucurui dam (already in operation—attempting to simulate an ex-ante analysis but using actual data) and the Belo Monte dam (not yet fully operating—using forecasts). The evaluation of the feasibility of both these projects is obtained by calculating the ENPV (economic net present value) and the B/C Ratio (benefits to costs ratio). Then subsequent arguments are proposed as to why a technical and quantitative comparison of these projects is difficult to implement in practice, due to uncertainties as to which SDRs (social discount rates) should be applied or upon which distinct formulas should be used to evaluate the amount of the CO2 emissions.
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