Bolsonaro ‘plans N-plants to tackle power shortfall’

Far-rightpresidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro plans to tackle Brazil’s chronicenergy shortages head-on by expanding nuclear power and hydroelectricenergy despite environmental concerns over the impact of new dams on theAmazon, the retired general devising his infrastructure programme said.OswaldoFerreira, one of half a dozen retired generals advising the electionfront-runner, said a Bolsonaro government would complete Brazil’scorruption-plagued Angra 3 nuclear power station on the coast betweenSao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro at whatever the cost.He also said aBolsonaro government would push ahead with the massive Belo Monte hydrodam on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon, which was criticisedfor displacing indigenous communities.Shelved plans for other dams in the Amazon basin could also be revived.Ferreirasaid private investors would be called on to help build theinfrastructure Brazil needs and that environmental factors would befully taken into account.Belo Monte and other hydro plans for theAmazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, have been slammed byenvironmentalists for harming its biodiversity.Bolsonaro, a63-year-old former army captain-turned-congressman favoured by financialmarkets, fell just short of an outright majority in Sunday’s election.He will face leftist Fernando Haddad, a former Sao Paulo mayor, in a second-round ballot on October 28.Popularwith Brazil’s powerful evangelical and farming lobby, Bolsonaro haspledged to pull Brazil out of the Paris Agreement climate deal due todisagreements over how the Amazon should be protected.His topagriculture adviser said on Tuesday that his government would slashfines for farmers who break environmental laws in sensitive areas likethe Amazon rainforest.Ferreira said hundreds of unfinishedinfrastructure projects, from railways and roads for exporting grains,will be studied and completed if viable with the help of investorsthrough public-private partnerships.But energy will be a priority.“IfBrazil is to return to the rates of growth that we all want, there willbe a need for energy that cannot be supplied from other sources,” hesaid.A Datafolha poll on Wednesday showed Bolsonaro strengthening his lead to 58% of voter support, compared with Haddad’s 42%.Bolsonaro,who is recovering from a near-fatal stabbing while campaigning lastmonth, plans to rally the support of elected lawmakers today near hishome in the Barra de Tijuca beach district of Rio de Janeiro.In aninterview posted on social media, Bolsonaro said his team had aneconomic agenda “practically ready” to present upon taking office inJanuary, if he wins, including a tax reform that would not raise taxesbut rather cut red tape.Ferreira said Bolsonaro favoured privatisingthe transmission and distribution units of Brazil’s largest utilityCentrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, known as Eletrobras, but retainingstate control of power generation.He emphasised that a Bolsonaroadministration will focus on “clean” energy from hydro to wind andsolar, and that environmental concerns will be given “full attention.”