A massive concrete dam is growing and gaining shape on the Madeira River, just 18 months after ground was broken. Today, 10,295 company members are working to meet deadlines and ensure quality in the construction of one of the world’s largest hydroelectric power stations: the Santo Antônio plant, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. On the left bank of the river, the Amazon’s largest tributary, the construction site and rain forest dominate the landscape. On the right bank, we see Porto Velho, a growing city whose economy is gaining power as the future plant becomes a reality.

The project is scheduled for completion by 2015, but expectations are that the first of its 44 turbines will start generating power by the end of 2011. The plant will have an installed capacity of 3,150 MW. Energy will be distributed not only to northern Brazil but to other regions through the transmission line that will be installed to connect Porto Velho with Araraquara, São Paulo, where the new plant will be integrated into the Brazilian power system.

Harnessing the Madeira River
When Brazil faced an energy crisis in 2001, Odebrecht conducted studies that indicated the possibility of building four power plants to develop the Madeira River’s hydroelectric potential. Engineer José Bonifácio Pinto Júnior, who has a long list of hydroelectric projects on his résumé and is now CEO of Odebrecht Energy, has worked on this project from the start. “Construction of the Santo Antônio project began in September 2008 and is continuing at an impressive pace, so we can confirm that the established deadlines will be met.”

The environmental license for Santo Antônio was issued in July 2007. Five months later, Consórcio Madeira Energia, a consortium led by Odebrecht and Furnas, tendered the lowest average tariff for power to be generated and won the auction for the concession to build and operate the facility. The Santo Antônio Energia company was established to operate the plant for a 30-year period. Consórcio Construtor Santo Antônio (CCSA), a joint venture led by Odebrecht Engineering & Construction and also made up of Consórcio Santo Antônio Civil (Odebrecht Engineering & Construction and Andrade Gutierrez) and Gicom – Grupo Industrial do Complexo do Rio Madeira (Alstom, Bardella, Voith Siemens, Andritz and Areva). Odebrecht Engineering & Construction is responsible for electromechanical installation. CCSA is the largest employer in the North of the country and the 42nd-largest in Brazil.

Building a power plant on one of the main rivers in the Amazon, close to the rain forest, requires special solutions. The decision to use bulb turbines, for example, ensured that the environment will not suffer a more significant impact. The verse “The interior will become the sea, it hurts the heart,” from a song by Sá, Rodrix and Guarabyra, is about the the Sobradinho plant, built on the São Francisco River in the state of Bahia between 1973 and 1979, which flooded a 4,214-sq.km area. In the case of the Santo Antônio plant, the flooded area will only cover 217 sq.km, of which 164 sq.km are in the riverbed itself. Some of the families living in the area affected by the project have been resettled by Consórcio Santo Antônio, and others have received financial compensation.

Mário Lúcio Pinheiro, the Project Director and officer responsible for civil construction works at Consórcio Santo Antônio Civil, is a native of Uberaba, Minas Gerais, and has lived in Porto Velho along with his family since 2008. Sitting in his office, which is full of maps and schedules, he observes that unity and team spirit have had a decisive influence on this project: “Dealing with a multicultural team requires face-to-face, frank and honest dialogue. The biggest challenge isn’t building a hydro but constructing a unit. We have to work as a unified team.”

The construction works are on both banks of the river, and go on around the clock, every day but Sundays, which are set aside for equipment maintenance. The current priorities are the powerhouse on the right bank, to ensure that the plant will generate energy by the end of next year, and the spillway on the left bank, which will make it possible to divert the Madeira in a year’s time.

Luiz Gabriel Todt de Azevedo, from Odebrecht Energy, is responsible for the Sustainability area. He underscores the Santo Antônio plant’s role in local socioeconomic development, combined with environmental protection. He says that the consortium has gone well beyond meeting legal requirements and mitigating impacts: “Our goal is to promote social and economic gains for the local communities, as well as providing real opportunities for environmental conservation.” In February, at a seminar in Washington, DC, in the United States, Luiz Gabriel emphasized: “Brazil can prove that it has learned from the past and will make Santo Antônio a benchmark for social and environmental performance in the future development of the energy potential of Amazonian rivers.”

Odebrecht has decided to carry out a groundbreaking initiative at Santo Antônio that is a first in Brazil and rarely found in other countries: estimating greenhouse gas emissions (GGE). As Luiz Gabriel explains: “This was a voluntary program. There are no ready-made methods for estimating the carbon footprint of major infrastructure projects like power plants. So we developed our own method.” These estimates gauge the amount of emissions produced by all the activities involved in the construction project, including civil construction and installation. The main sources of emissions were identified and their impacts quantified. The study revealed that at Santo Antônio, most emissions come from fuel consumption by machinery and equipment. Emission-reducing measures based on these findings are now being taken.

A massive project like Santo Antônio requires a large contingent of skilled workers. At the same time, giving priority to local hiring is also key. Based on these two givens, the Ongoing Professional Qualification Program – Acreditar (Believe) was created in January 2008. Of the 10,295 workers mobilized for the project, almost 98% (10,063) originated from that program. They now have a new profession, which means social inclusion and a better quality of life.

Antônio Cardilli, 47, has been with Odebrecht for 30 years. This dam builder collects rocks from all the plants he has worked on: six, altogether. “This one is from right here,” he says, pointing to a grey pebble. He joined the Group when he was 17, and feels that he has reached the most gratifying phase of his career. “I came here on January 14, 2008, to set up the office.” The Administrative/Financial Manager for the project, Cardilli is also the coordinator of the Acreditar Program, his brainchild, which in two years has trained 25,000 professionals in the state of Rondônia. Over 8,000 are now working on the Santo Antônio project. They include bricklayers, carpenters, steelfixers, vibrator operators and drivers, among other specialists. The program has spread from Rondônia to other parts of Brazil and is being introduced in projects in other countries.

“Dealing with a multicultural team requires face-to-face, frank and honest dialogue”
Mário Lúcio Pinheiro

Rubens Gonçalves da Silva, or Rubinho, is from Maringá, Paraná, has lived in Porto Velho for eight years, and was one of the first professionals to graduate from the Acreditar program. Today he is a light-vehicle driver. “Previously, I rode a bicycle and didn’t have any future prospects. Thanks to my new job, I have a better life and my daughter, Edivânia, has taken the Business Administration course.”

A significant number of women are involved in the construction of the Santo Antônio Plant, representing over 10% of the total workforce – a record, because that figure had never surpassed 2% before on most heavy construction projects in Brazil. Elissandra Regina Cavalcanti is another Acreditar graduate. She operates a hydraulic excavator. Better known as Nenê, Elissandra, 33, is from Porto Velho. She has played on the São Paulo and Brazilian women’s soccer teams, and competed in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. “I like a challenge,” she says. “I think it’s beautiful that women have jobs that were once just ‘for men.’ In soccer and right here.” Arlenicen Batista Gomes, 38, is a native of Goiás, and graduated from Acreditar as a carpenter in June 14, 2009. She is a widow with seven children. “My life was very hard, but it’s different now.” Her eldest son, aged 16, is taking part in the Acreditar Junior program.

Acreditar Junior is the “son of Acreditar,” designed for the teenage children (aged 14 to 17) of Consórcio Santo Antônio Civil members. They stay in school and take basic and technical classes in partnership with the SENAI (National Industrial Apprenticeship Service). Over 400 young participants have already received a uniform, backpack and educational materials. They each get 50% of the monthly minimum salary, which is currently BRL 510, and take part in activities designed to develop civic spirit. Geisiele Gonçalves, 15, one of Rubinho’s daughters, is also participating in Acreditar Junior. “I’ll help build the hydroelectric plant one day!,” she says.

Feeding over 10,000 workers is the challenge for Hédio Perdomo, the Food Business Manager, who is responsible for the kitchen and supplies meals to the jobsite’s three restaurants. “A survey found that 98% of the workers are satisfied with the food,” says Hédio, who has 230 people on his team, including five nutritionists. A Carioca (born in the city of Rio de Janeiro), Hédio worked for the Brazilian Navy before joining Odebrecht in 1982. “We make sure there’s protein, such as beef and chicken, as well as rice and beans,” he explains. “We consume four tonnes (metric tons) of meat per day, for example.” He and his team serve breakfast and lunch for 6,000 people per meal, dinner for 4,000 people and snacks for 3,300. In the kitchen, 225 company members prepare food and clean the facilities, which are always spotless.

Four tonnes (metric tons) of meat per day. Breakfast and lunch for 6,000 people per meal, dinner for 4,000 people and snacks for 3,300. In the kitchen, 225 company members prepare food and clean the facilities

Consórcio Construtor Santo Antônio’s Institutional Relations Manager is Valdemar Camata Júnior. Born in the state of Espírito Santo, he has a degree in Economics and has lived in Rondônia for 30 years. Valdemar observes: “Rondônia has gone through several economic cycles, including the rubber boom and the construction of the Madeira-Mamoré railway, the gold rush, and the arrival of farming and ranching. Now the energy cycle has arrived. Thanks to the Santo Antônio project, there has already been a great deal of progress. Thanks to energy, this young state will be able to grow much more in the fields of industry, commerce and tourism.”