Codo Mexican Kitchen in Chatham had its family-and-friends opening Thursday, with its public opening slated for last weekend. We tried it − from Mexican street corn with chips to still-warm-from-the-fryer churros we shared a taco salad with shredded chicken and barbacoa tacos with slow-cooked spiced beef reminiscent of short ribs as well as apps and a half-dozen signature cocktails Codo Mexican Kitchen, which we introduced last week in the Tidbits column of Cape Cod restaurant news, would be the region’s newest choice for Cinco de Mayo dining but since the holiday is Monday and Codo Mexican Kitchen is only open weekends in the shoulder season you will either have to celebrate early or late Here's what's happening in Cape Cod restaurant news this week: Falmouth HeightsThe waterfront restaurant that overlooks Martha’s Vineyard on a clear day is going through some changes Opening May 1st!” reads a message on the restaurant’s Facebook page Even before that notice went out, Gavin Tyson posted on social media introducing himself as the chef of The Wharf saying he relocated to Falmouth for the season “to bring a new style and a revamped menu and style on 286 Grand Ave (focusing on French-based by the sea Marseille-styled dishes.)” Tyson said he was looking for an events coordinator sous chef and two line cooks to round out his new team at the five-month seasonal restaurant according to Sesuit Harbor Cafe’s Facebook page Three Kentucky Derby parties on Cape CodYou won’t be getting a blanket of 564 red roses like the winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby but you can celebrate remotely at one of several watch parties here on Cape Cod Don’t forget to make a reservation and dust off your fancy hat Chatham Bars Inn: Celebrate the “most exciting two minutes in sports” at a Kentucky Derby party from 5:30 to 8 p.m The cost is $75 and includes one mint julep and Southern-style hors d’oeuvre Reserve through Eventbrite or by calling 508-945-6732 The 21-plus party includes a pre-race analysis the “Hats and Horsies Kentucky Derby Party” starts at 4 p.m Don your fancy hats & bow ties and join us for the Kentucky Derby with bets of course),” write organizers Kristen Baylis Tickets, available through Eventbrite, are $35 and include light hors d’oeuvre and watching the race on a big-screen TV. Reserve with Eventbrite.com/ Ocean Edge Resort hosts a Kentucky Derby watch party with Southern-style hors d’oeuvres and cocktails Tickets are $40 and reservations may be made through Opendoor.com/ Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Join the Cape Cod Times free Facebook group, Good Stuff at Cape Cod Restaurants to share tips and participate in food polls Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. Diálogo Américas The Coca Codo Sinclair Hydroelectric Plant in Ecuador built nine years ago by the Chinese company SinoHydro and financed by the Export-Import Bank of China is in danger of collapse due to deficiencies in its infrastructure design and errors in geological understanding The project has been marred in controversies before operations even began turning the Coca Codo Sinclair Hydroelectric Plant into a time bomb “In its eagerness to gain a foothold in Latin America China is carrying out large strategic projects such as hydroelectric dams an Argentine expert in international relations and security issues “But the low-quality construction in their projects can paralyze key infrastructure and burden nations with even more costs in the years to come as they try to remedy the problems caused by the mistakes of Chinese engineers.” In an opinion piece for Argentine news site Infobae research professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S War Army College Strategic Studies Institute addresses China’s advances in the South American country in infrastructure and the considerable debt that Ecuador has accumulated deriving in great part from China’s failed projects The Coca Codo Sinclair’s location is among the biggest problems of the dam in addition to its shoddy construction and poor-quality materials The $3-billion hydroelectric plant is at risk of collapsing into a sinkhole which could worsen the country’s energy crisis which has been crippled by power rationing the hydroelectric plant has only been able to generate 42 percent of its capacity caused the country to experience 19 blackouts of more than eight hours “due to failures in the Coca Codo Sinclair spillway,” which allow for passage of surplus water when the reservoir is full “The infrastructure was built with an installed capacity of 1500 Megawatts (MW) but technical and hydrological studies indicated from the outset that because there is not enough water in the location chosen for the hydroelectric plant only 975 MW could be produced,” Somoza said Among the main problems are the more than 17,000 cracks in the power plant’s eight turbines warned the Ecuadorian Comptroller’s Office which is the heart of the hydroelectric plant it was predicted that Ecuador was going to export energy on a large scale because Coca Codo Sinclair is a poorly designed and oversized hydroelectric plant,” Somoza said president of Ecuadorian nongovernmental organization Acción Ecológica pointed out that two studies by the National Polytechnic School of Ecuador warned that the site was not suitable for the construction of large-scale works due to its geological composition Four years after the dam began operations in 2016 a natural lava dam that supported the 150-meter San Rafael Waterfall collapsed causing landslides and eroding the riverbed leading to the plant’s water intake facility Scientists and engineers consulted by Bloomberg agreed that planners should have considered the geological fragile waterfall They never did studies of the San Rafael Waterfall,” said Emilio Cobo an expert in freshwater ecosystems who worked as an advisor to Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and scientists from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) traveled to Quito to develop effective solutions to stop the advance of regressive erosion that threaten the dam USACE personnel made their first technical visit to the hydroelectric plant back in 2021 and have since then worked with Ecuador’s Power Corporation (CELEC) toward a solution to mitigate the river’s regressive erosion and protect the infrastructure during a meeting between Ecuadorian authorities and members of USACE a series of specific works and actions to contain the erosion must be implemented It is also at the foot of the active volcano El Reventador; so There were warnings that moving on with the project could have disastrous effects on the population and the environment,” Almeida said “But the government and pressure from the Chinese company were stronger.” “China’s aggressive expansion of its energy involvement in the region raises questions for recipient nations including the possibility of excessive debt who are often excluded from the provision of goods and services for billion-dollar projects,” Somoza concluded For more on security and defense issues around the globe Restaurants on Cape Cod are sprouting like spring flowers where three new places are either open or opening in May Also in food news this week, more than 30,000 readers voted in the Cape Cod Times March Madness-inspired brackets, choosing Sesuit Harbor Cafe in Dennis as the best waterfront restaurant on Cape Cod Here's a look at this week's Cape Cod restaurant news the Naked Oyster will close its doors at the beginning of June according to the Hyannis restaurant’s Facebook page a native of France whose Cape Cod restaurant has been known over the years for the shellfish she digs from her own beds We are incredibly grateful for the memories we’ve shared,” said the farewell note signed by Lowell and her children The family thanked customers and staffers and invited everyone to “visit us before our final service in early June Don’t try to correct the spelling of “Avacado” on the menu and walls of the new J.Bar in Chatham or the seasonal J.Bar in Harwich Port: That spelling is a tribute to owner Erin Tucker’s daughter There are nods to her other two daughters as well J. Bar a healthy seasonal stop in Harwich Port for the past decade opened its doors April 4 to a second location in the Shops at 400 Main The new place will have a grand opening at 8:30 a.m no dairy … It affects the energy of the place in a very positive way,” said Erin Tucker stuffed with inspirational quotes promoting kindness along with menu items like the Chatham Light frozen smoothie bowl there are no hidden ingredients … We go through cases of celery One of the regular deals includes two juices You can eat more when eating fruits and veggies,” Tucker said As for people who don’t feel ready for an all-raw diet Tucker said she tells them: “Don't worry about what you are trying to give up Also coming to Main Street in Chatham is Codo Mexican Kitchen at 859 Main St “It’s kind of a play on words because when you meet someone from Chatham and ask where on the Cape they’re from, they bend up their arm and point to their elbow. Codo means elbow in Spanish,” said Michael Martir, chief executive officer of Coastal Hospitality group that owns the new Codo Mexican Kitchen as well as Pate’s and Chatham Cut in Chatham Chapin’s Bayside on Taunton Avenue in Dennis The Doghouse and One-Stop Market in Dennis Port Martir describes cuisine for the new restaurant as “Baja coastal” ― neither authentic Mexican nor Tex-Mex “We’re not doing sizzling fajitas,” Martir said with the restaurant’s vibrant colors and relaxed decor waiting to welcome people straight off the beach ranging from families to friends interested in trying the latest small-batch tequilas Don’t forget to visit your favorite restaurants to take advantage of prix fixe offers many of which are in their last few weeks as Memorial Day weekend approaches and Cape Cod restaurateurs shift to summer mode Some that were still on this week include a Sunday-through-Tuesday (served all evening) $36 or $46 three-course meal at Old Yarmouth Inn with some of their local favorites on the menu including “Drunken Half Chicken and Baked Seafood Trio,” according to their Facebook page The website for Alberto’s Ristorante in Hyannis offers a $41 three-course Italian meal from 11:30 a.m The hydroelectric megaproject Coca Codo Sinclair is among Latin America’s most controversial Chinese-financed and constructed infrastructure projects the dam has not yet been formally handed over to the Ecuadorian government — but this may soon change Ecuadorian officials expect to receive Coca Codo from its contractor The complexity of this handover and the negotiations surrounding it highlight the agency of Southern countries like Ecuador in shaping the outcomes of Chinese projects Rather than passive recipients of flawed projects host countries deploy diverse strategies to pursue their own development goals in this case centering on energy resilience Chile — over defects in its powerhouse distributor pipes The micro-fissures present in these snail-shaped pipes which channel water to the project’s turbines are the most severe among a series of construction flaws being contested by the Ecuadorian government in the ICC case according to a recent interview with Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy and Mines an ICC decision could be reached as soon as the end of March Whatever Sinohydro’s liability result the end of this legal proceeding will open up the pathway for the company to fully turn over the project to the Ecuadorian state electricity company Both Ecuadorian and Chinese officials are eager for this long and contentious process to be resolved. Ecuador underwent a severe energy shortage last year triggered by a record-setting drought that reduced the electricity production of its hydropower projects (the country relies on hydropower for approximately 70 percent of its electricity) Ecuadorian officials are eager to break ground on new power generation projects to avoid future scarcity and demonstrate their dedication to preventing this type of catastrophe from occurring again Chinese official development finance could be an important source of financing for these projects, especially given lending patterns and policy commitments focusing on green energy a deal with a financier such as the Export-Import Bank of China is unlikely to be feasible until Coca Codo Sinclair (itself financed by the Export-Import Bank of China) is wrapped up Ecuadorian officials have a strong incentive to resolve this controversy and move on with new forms of China-Ecuador energy cooperation Coca-Cola Sinclair has threatened the company’s international reputation in no small measure As Ecuador and Sinohydro approach the final stages of this protracted dispute the resolution will carry lasting implications the outcome will not only influence its ability to attract future investment in energy infrastructure but also the stability of its current electricity supply Whether through refusal to accept construction flaws and environmental risk Ecuadorian authorities assert their agency in managing foreign-financed and -constructed megaprojects The fate of Coca Codo Sinclair will thus stand as a testament to the power of sustained host country pressure in shaping the accountability and future viability of large-scale Chinese projects Julie Radomski is a Global China Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center Her research concerns the politics of development in Latin America and the geopolitical ecological and historical dynamics of Global China in the region The China-Global South Project is passionately independent non-partisan and does not advocate for any country A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories often unconventional insights from scholars journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars journalists and other practioners from around the world You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience. Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world If a hydroplant responsible for 30% of the nation’s electricity went offline, it would compound an energy crisis already roiling the nation. By Peter Millard and Stephan Kueffner Photography and video by Johanna Alarcón for Bloomberg a roughly three-hour drive from the capital of Quito sits in a valley prone to natural disasters and the resulting erosion could reach the plant’s water intake facility as early as 2026 according to a study from the US Army Corps of Engineers seen by Bloomberg News a slow-motion avalanche of sediment from a waterfall collapse could bury another part of the generation facility The plant going offline would be disastrous for Ecuador and only add to turmoil and frustration from residents who are dealing with increasing crime and political instability the state utility is renting a floating fuel-oil power station off the coast one of the filthiest sources of electricity to ease the disruptions to the daily lives of its people given that it would take years to build enough surplus energy generation from solar or thermal power Ecuador needs to keep Coca Codo Sinclair operational at all costs risky from the start: Planners picked a scenic spot for the dam just up the river from Ecuador’s tallest waterfall and at the base of the Reventador volcano Any local could have warned against the idea Marcos Cahuatijo has witnessed three major geologic events strike the Coca valley in his 54 years — including two earthquakes that struck the same day in 1987 and a volcanic eruption in 2002 he led the construction of a residential complex for hydroelectric plant employees near the base of the volcano and you could hear the volcano spewing out rocks,” said Cahuatijo as he replicated the gurgling and thumping sound of molten rocks tumbling from the crater The only quick fixes are expensive or unreliable Electricity imports from Colombia have faced interruption as its northern neighbor has temporarily had to cut off supply to keep its own lights on Most of the natural gas in Ecuador’s oil fields gets flared in an ongoing environmental debacle because the country would need to build a network of pipelines to transport the fuel “We will no longer be able to count on this electricity” “We will no longer be able to count on this electricity,” said Carolina Bernal a hydrosedimentologist and researcher at the National Polytechnic School in Quito “There is nothing that will stop this regressive erosion.” the state utility has dispatched engineers to shore up the riverbed beneath the plant But Ecuador seems poised to make the same mistake again at another hydro facility it’s planning in the southeast Coca Codo Sinclair’s precarious location is only inflaming a broader problem: Hydro is responsible for 80% of the country’s electricity needs It’s something that’s become familiar to many developing countries where cheaper energy alternatives squeeze out the more costly ones Hydropower is relatively reliable — until a drought hits — creating a false sense of energy security It’s also the reality of many new and carbon-free energy infrastructure projects: They have to rely on natural resources at a time when climate is changing everywhere Plunging water levels at the world’s biggest man-made reservoir have caused power outages in both countries flooding and landslides in Nepal sent hydro projects offline two recently built hydro projects have been swept away by floods since 2021 The disasters also underscore how the most suitable sites for hydropower have already been occupied forcing developers to move into more hazardous regions where they often use out-of-date climate models Read More: Dams Are Becoming More Dangerous to Build as Good Sites Run Out “There’s an appetite in the developing world for big projects a water and climate researcher at the World Bank and the University of Oxford “But there’s also a lack of preparedness and awareness in terms of acknowledging climate and water risks.” Coca Codo Sinclair in particular was part of former President Rafael Correa’s efforts to show the world how Ecuador could modernize itself without help from Western lenders Ecuador state utility Celec tapped Sinohydro The government would later go on to pursue arbitration against the contractor for construction flaws Four years after hydro operations started in 2016 another geologic event struck the Coca valley A natural lava dam that had supported the 490-foot San Rafael waterfall collapsed unleashing landslides and eroding out the riverbed leading up to hydroplant’s water intake facility It also put the spiffy residential complex with a pool and roofed basketball court — built by Cahuatijo the local civil engineer — at the edge of a cliff It was immediately evacuated and condemned These days there is a single security guard on site to keep people out The shifting landscape and tropical climate are leaving it a decayed mess The main gate is leaning forward and is propped by a log “The budget certainly could have been dedicated to other things The scientists and engineers consulted by Bloomberg are split on whether the waterfall collapse was caused by Coca Codo Sinclair or merely coincidental What almost everyone agrees on is that planners should have taken the geologically fragile waterfall into consideration “It’s a case study in how not to do things” “It’s a case study in how not to do things,” said Emilio Cobo an expert in freshwater ecosystems who previously worked an adviser to Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment They never did studies on the San Rafael waterfall.” Sinohydro has released social media posts asserting that the project didn’t have an impact on the waterfall collapse Celec and the ministry of energy and mines didn’t respond to requests for comment The residents Bloomberg spoke to in the river towns are all convinced that the project is to blame who moved to a hamlet known as San Luis in 2008 She was suffering economic hardship in Quito and had heard that a pipeline spill had opened up opportunities to work on cleanup crews Read More: The World’s Biggest Source of Clean Energy Is Evaporating Fast but she and her husband found jobs at the residential complex that Cahuatijo was building they built a two-story cinder block home in San Luis — which is now turning into a ghost town Four homes have slid off the cliff due to erosion from the waterfall collapse Authorities have said residents can’t do any major repair works on their homes and have said they will be relocated Cobo thinks San Luis will be completely gone within five years “I regret investing so much and all for nothing We should have gone to a less dangerous place,” said Yaguana “People are leaving because they’re afraid of the volcano and the landslides Jairo Cabrera lives just a few miles down the road from San Luis and is organizing residents who lost land from the regressive erosion a process that spreads up a river valley and often causes slope failures “They caused all this regressive erosion,” he says “Some of us have been able to get work with what’s left Cabrera had an ecotourism business with four cabins and a nearly two-mile nature trail leading up to the waterfall he walks across what’s left of his property swinging a machete to clear the now-abandoned nature path He points out a flowering Bougainvillea bush that he planted to attract birds All that’s left is a concrete frame that was once part of metal bridge that took tourists across the river The rest was washed away with the waterfall Standing at the edge of a huge canyon that plunges nearly a thousand feet he points and says “that’s where the river used to be.” a fleet of nearly 50 dump trucks is busy hauling dirt and loose sediment from a section of the river where Celec hired a consortium to build a $17.3 million permeable dike and drill concrete pillars into the riverbed which means the riverbed has already lost part of the ground that needs to be protected Leonardo Baez has been working to protect roads and the riverbed from regressive erosion since 2020 as a project manager at Accyem Proyectos a civil construction company that is part of the consortium which will take until late 2025 to complete “The problem with regressive erosion is that it’s a phenomenon that doesn’t have a defined behavior,” said Baez The current project only protects against 33 feet of erosion which won’t be enough if the river subsides more than expected Accyem is proposing a novel engineering solution to protect the dike from at least 60 feet of erosion — an anti-sinkhole blanket The idea is to cover the riverbed underneath the dike with an enormous structure of flexible steel with separate compartments that are filled with boulders or weighted containers it would bend and adjust instead of breaking and prevent the erosion from reaching the dike we think we can protect the structure,” he said Accyem continues to lobby Celec to incorporate the novel technology Even if Ecuador manages to keep Coca Codo Sinclair up and running it could wind up costing hundreds of millions of dollars in constant remediation work that should be getting invested into alternative sources of energy such as large scale solar parks But what he sees is Ecuador making the same mistakes at other sites such as the Santiago hydroelectric project it plans to build in the southeast It’s meant to produce more than twice as much as Coca Codo Sinclair and come on line in the early 2030s planners aren’t taking into account how silty the river is which has only been made worse by illegal mining in the area “I don’t know what they are going to do with all that sediment,” he said The Coca Codo Sinclair Hydroelectric Power Plant built by the Chinese company SinoHydro and described as the largest engineering work in Ecuador’s history the accumulation of sediments due to the lack of floodgates as well as a process of regressive erosion are pushing power generation and distribution to a halt representatives of Ecuador’s Power Corporation (CELEC) and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) met in Quito to develop effective solutions to stop the advance of regressive erosion which threaten the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant USACE personnel made their first technical visit to the hydroelectric plant back in 2021 and have since then worked with CELEC USACE members have been working to implement emergency measures in at-risk areas and expanding monitoring to predict and reduce power outages Army Corps of Engineers brought in a variety of outside government agencies to […] help better understand the Coca River sedimentation challenges,” Adriel McConnell “Our goal is to better understand how to stabilize this new river profile between the collapse and the catchment itself to maintain the long-term reliability of the power system.” this erosion caused the loss of 508 hectares of native forest and the pace of deforestation is only increasing Washington-based nongovernmental organization Conservación Amazónica reported The greatest geological impact happened in 2021 with the disappearance of the San Rafael Waterfall 20 kilometers from the catchment area that diverts the flow to the hydroelectric plant The The disappearance of the waterfall and the river changed course caused the accelerated erosion upstream which created landslides and the collapse of the river walls Ecuadorian television network Teleamazonas reported “The problem started with failure to consider dragging of the thick sediments of those quite large stones of more than 20 centimeters a research professor at Ecuador’s National Polytechnic School “The lower part was filled with all these very thick sediments and now in the upper part the fine sediments are forming islands with trees up to four or five meters high.” Construction of the hydroelectric plant began in July 2010 and was completed in November 2016 according to Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy and Mines the first construction defects appeared: 7,648 cracks in the turbines The area also presented the first obstructions by sediment “When the regressive erosion reaches the catchment area Then the collector tunnel and the water will no longer be at the same level The water will be lower and will not be able to enter.” The regressive erosion of the river is advancing rapidly in the direction of the plant’s water storage also endangering the oil infrastructure in the area and the E45 highway confirmed the above and said that the zone is now at high risk “We are only 6.8 km from critical infrastructure we will face massive blackouts in the country,” Dr an Ecuadorian environmentalist and scientist “It is crucial that the government act immediately to solve this problem the power plant had to shut down due to a new increase in sediment the Coca Codo Sinclair Business Unit said via X One of the problems that could paralyze this hydroelectric power plant forever are the thousands of cracks in the powerhouse water distributors That became an international claim of the Ecuadorian Electric Corporation against the Chinese company SinoHydro Ecuador’s Office of the Attorney General has also launched an investigation against several officials for possible bribes “The regressive erosion between the disappeared San Rafael Waterfall and downstream is eating up the Coca River valley,” Bernal said “This is causing the destruction of the oil transportation system Among Ecuador’s options to protect the Coca Codo Sinclair is the creation of a permeable dam together with USACE Peter Kaspari is a blogger and a freelance reporter he has written for newspapers in both Iowa and Illinois including spending multiple years covering crime and courts he served as the editor for The Lake Forest Leader Peter is also a longtime resident of Wilmette and New Trier High School alumnus Though the Huskers put up a better fight than expected following their 56-7 loss to Indiana and the defense continuing to be lost in the passing game the Huskers could be in store for another rough finish with the toughest opponents out of the way Nebraska's final four foes give them ample opportunity to grab that sixth win But head coach Matt Rhule doesn't want the team to be worried about getting that sixth win rather he wants them to focus on what is needed "I believe everything happens to you for a reason We were playing Michigan State and we lost I felt like the guys were chasing something a little bit That’s why I said I didn’t do a good enough job putting them in the right mindset We came back last week and we were playing to play We have to play for pride and play with heart and character I won’t talk about anything other than that this week You learned what it looked like against Ohio State Carry that forward and we’ll do that each and every week." Here are the rankings for Nebraska's final four opponents of the 2024 season Iowa's main struggle this season is its passing offense Though Nebraska's defensive Achilles heel is also passing and Ohio State brought strong aerial attacks leaving Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan to take the reins Sullivan played 12 games across two seasons for the Wildcats averaging around 108 passing yards and under one touchdown pass per game It's tough to say what Sullivan can add to the Hawkeyes offense Sullivan threw 9-of-14 for 79 yards but rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown off eight carries an area only Indiana succeeded with against Nebraska then the Hawkeyes will need their defense to bring their best performance of the season on Black Friday 3 UCLA Bruins 2-5 (1-4)UCLA rested up with its bye week Nebraska needs to be cautious defensively with this team Ethan Garbers decimated Rutgers in the Bruins' win throwing 32-of-38 for 383 yards and four touchdowns doubling his touchdown total on the season This is Garber's best outing of the season as before the game he averaged just over 220 yards and almost two interceptions per game Nebraska's defensive struggles allow the Bruins to deliver another big outing But UCLA's defense remains in shambles as it's allowed 29 points per game With three straight lackluster performances by Nebraska's offense the Bruins pose a much-needed opportunity for the Huskers to get back on track Whether this game turns into a shootout or a defensive battle remains to be seen UCLA isn't one to be taken lightly for Nebraska No. 2 USC Trojans 4-4 (2-4)USC seemingly found its rhythm like UCLA when it delivered big time against Rutgers. With a 42-20 win over the Scarlet Knights the Trojans snapped a three-game skid to return to .500 closing a 28-9 gap to 28-20 in the third quarter but the Scarlet Knights drove deep into Trojan territory on their final two drives USC isn't out of the woods yet regarding their ability to play 60 minutes of football Quarterback Miller Moss averages nearly 283 passing yards and two touchdowns per game The defense allows nearly 22 points per game almost aligning perfectly with Nebraska's statistics 1: Wisconsin Badgers 5-3 (3-2)With Ohio State out of the way the rising high Wisconsin Badgers move into the top spot they've picked up steam over the last four games Braedyn Locke's averaged over 231 passing yards and just over one touchdown Locke could go off against Nebraska in its current state This along with Wisconsin's defense gives the Badgers all the momentum Wisconsin duked it out with the Nittany Lions throughout the night before Penn State pulled away from its 14-13 lead Rutgers and Purdue to a combined 16 points With Nebraska's offense lacking any verticality the Badgers could produce another defensive outing which combined with Locke's potential showing makes Wisconsin the toughest opponent that remains for Nebraska Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Édgar Zúñiga runs this 80-year-old ice cream shop in Quito including back in the 1990s when power had to be rationed There were blackouts and even a national decree to set the clocks forward an hour to take advantage of sunlight Owner of Heladería Victoria: “Our freezers need to have the right temperature to be able to serve ice cream The solution to the power problem in the country was this a hydroelectric power plant built with help from China’s Sinohydro state-owned construction company The Coca Codo Sinclair plant includes a transmission system that carries power across the country then-President Rafael Correa and Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated the plant’s inauguration in Quito and his wife Peng Liyuan stand with Ecuador's President Rafael Correa President of Ecuador: “We inaugurated the largest infrastructure ever built in this country the hydroelectric plant Coca Codo Sinclair The project cost more than $2 billion and was financed with a $1.7 billion loan from the Export Import Bank of China President of China: “China is willing to work with the Ecuadorean side in light of the principles of cooperation like equality openness and inclusion to constantly deepen our cooperation.” the plant has been surrounded by controversy an assemblyman who chairs the Oversight Commission Assemblyman: “China lent us the money and forced us to hire a company they wanted The State could not decide which was the best company and the best cost Villavicencio also questions the quality of the materials used and the appearance of thousands of cracks in the plant’s distributors which conduct water to the turbines to generate electricity Fernando Villavicencio: “We discovered that for the year 2022 which is the most recent data update we have Mechanical engineer Roberto Varhola worked as a consultant during the project’s construction and objected to the building of the power plant He said there is not enough water flow to generate 1500 megawatts of power He also warned about the potential risks caused by the cracks in the distributors Mechanical Engineer: “The number of cracks is a year’s long nightmare … The worst nightmare a mechanical engineer has is for there to be a crack in a part.” Varhola blames both the Ecuadorian authorities and the Chinese construction company for the structural problems Roberto Varhola: “As an Ecuadorian citizen I feel cheated and swindled because they should have done better.” Source: AidData Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 2.0 In response to media coverage of the problems with the plant the Chinese state-run news outlet Global Times quoted Chinese Embassy officials in Ecuador saying “the problem has been assessed by an international third-party independent testing agency … which concluded that it will not affect the operation and safety of the unit and that the plant is safe for its 50-year design life.” The report also noted the power plant generates more than 30 percent of the electricity in Ecuador In addition to structural problems within the plant the Coca Codo project is also facing environmental threats from the outside damaged oil pipelines in the region causing spills destroyed part of a highway and carried away a part of the town of San Luis Erodita Andi has lived in the area for 15 years every now and then you hear the mountain as it comes down That is the terror that we as a community live through every day.” Geologist Carolina Bernal links the aggressive nature of the erosion to the way sediments are managed by the power plant She and other experts say prior environmental studies should have been better analyzed before construction started Geologist: “It’s an area that is having more and more problems because there is a threat that due to the constant accumulation of sediments the mechanical room will flood and we would have to be dredging all the time Engineer Jorge Sevilla says there was a lack of updated geological studies prior to construction He says increased sediment upstream of the dam is raising water levels and could create clogging which would jeopardize the operation of the plant Geological Engineer: “It was thought that what was already done was enough and it was not.” Plagued with concerns surrounding the plant residents in area towns have their own complaints of unmet economic expectations Local Resident: “The hydroelectric project was going to generate tourism attract more people to see the hydroelectric installations are working together to mitigate the environmental threats to the plant in order to keep the lights and freezers on in the country This year marks the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative First launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013 it draws from the idea of the ancient Silk Road a network of routes where people traveled for trade and cultural exchanges China’s 21st century iteration of the BRI aims for connectivity by land and sea to Asia This special project looks at the successes and challenges of the BRI and what they could mean for its future Top activism defense banker Pam Codo-Lotti discusses activism Activists score a “great win” when corporations publicly announce a strategic review for a portfolio company (GS) COO of activism and shareholder advisory Pam Codo-Lotti “This makes it look like the activist is able to influence outcomes and that matters a lot for activists,” Codo-Lotti told the Activist Investing Today podcast In a conversation that also focused on stock buybacks the activism defense banker explained why a public auction for a portfolio company could lead to a variety of M&A outcomes “Publicly announcing a potential breakup puts parts of a company in play That is potential upside for activists,” she said companies routinely receive M&A interest in SpinCo A separation auction can turn into a sale of the whole company she acknowledged that portfolio simplification might make sense “There is a point where portfolio diversification turns from a good thing to a bad thing and that happens when diversification turns into excessive complexity,” she told AIT narrowing the portfolio can be a catalyst to create value for shareholders.” Companies operating in sectors where peers are performing better and trading at higher multiples or those who have units with no obvious synergies could be targets for an activist’s push for divestitures A company could be targeted if its peers are simplifying their portfolios but it isn’t “There is a question of why other companies are doing it and not this company,” she said Check out the podcast with Pam Codo-Lotti here: More podcasts from The Deal are available on iTunes, Spotify and on TheDeal.com.  Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric facility is the largest energy project in Ecuador's history The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric facility is the largest energy project in Ecuador’s history 100km east of Ecuador’s capital Quito between the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos the 1,500MW project is a run-of-river development on the Coca River The plant’s eight turbines will produce 8.8 billion kWh per annum supplying 35% of the country’s overall electricity consumption and saving about two billion litres of imported diesel for thermal power plants per year Backed by strong political will, the project was promoted as a centrepiece of the new energy plan in Ecuador, which aims to replace thermoelectric energy from fossil fuels with renewable hydroelectric energy, and the import of energy from Peru and Colombia with self-sufficient energy production from renewable sources The developer and owner of the project is Cocasinclair EP (Coca Codo Sinclair EP) a state-owned special-purpose enterprise established in 2010 The construction of the $2.6bn project started in 2010 and was completed by November 2016 It will also reduce CO₂ emissions by 4.5 million tonnes a year A tunnel collapse at the plant construction site killed 13 people and injured 12 in December 2014 It also caused partial damage to the high-pressure pipes inside the engine room The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project was proposed in the early 1980s but could not be implemented because of the Reventador volcanic eruption in 1987 and financial constraints Ecuador President Rafael Correa restarted the project and Italian company Electroconsult was contracted for a new feasibility study Coca Codo Sinclair SA was established as a joint venture company between Ecuador’s state-owned power company Termopichincha Ecuador then bought the entire stake of Enarsa for $5.5m in September 2009 State-owned company Cocasinclair EP was later established for the development of the project The Export-Import Bank of China granted a $1.68bn loan payable in 15 years with the remaining funds provided by the Ecuador Government The access road to the powerhouse was completed in October 2012 Initial engineering works included the construction of the water intake area The project is being developed in an area where the Coca River flows in a great curve at a natural slope of 620m The water intake complex is located on the Coca River 1km downstream of the confluence of the Quijos and Salado rivers It comprises a concrete face rockfill dam built on the existing river channel a concrete spillway built on the left bank of the river and the sedimentation basin and intake built between the dam and spillway Any water diverted from the intake passes via the 120m-long sedimentation basin to run through a 24.8km-long concrete-lined headrace tunnel Water from the compensating reservoir is fed through two 1,900m-long penstocks to the eight Pelton turbines installed in the underground powerhouse A parallel cavern of 16.5m x 33m x 192m houses 24 single-phase transformers of 68.3 MVA each and a 500kV substation The access path to the powerhouse is 495m long A tailrace tunnel delivers water back to the Coca River The hydroelectric project is designed to use a 620m-high natural waterfall with a maximum regulated flow of water of 278m³/s Coca Codo’s run-of-river intake has a maximum capacity of 7,500m³/s The sedimentation basin has six bays and a design sediment particles size of 0.25mm while the maximum derived flow in the headrace tunnel is 222m³/s Two penstocks with vertical shaft and horizontal reach feed the water from the compensating reservoir to the eight generating units of the plant the power plant is equipped with eight six-nozzle vertical Pelton turbines Each turbine is powered by a runner with 22 buckets with a width of 835mm The bid documents for the Coca Codo Sinclair project were developed by Hogan & Hartson construction and procurement (EPC) contract for in October 2009 It is a consortium of Chinese company Sinohydro and consulting companies Yellow River and Geodato with 3% A 66-month $72.4m management and inspection contract was awarded in April 2011 to a Mexican-Ecuadorian consortium consisting of Mexico’s state-owned power company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) three engineering consultancies and Ecuador’s Consultora Vera y Asociados and Ingenieros Consultores Asociados Chinese company Harbin with Andritz Hydro was awarded the contract to supply the electromechanical equipment The company also provided the hydraulic concept and the model test Nexans was contracted to supply extra-high-voltage power cables to connect the project to the local power network in May 2013 Sinohydro contracted Sedicon in April 2014 to provide sediment removal equipment for the desanders The contract included 40 SediCon Sluicer units that remove more than 5.44 million tonnes of sediments a year Marti Norge supplied a 26.9m conveyor system The Coca Codo Sinclair plant is connected to the National Interconnected System (NIS) of Ecuador which distributes energy throughout the country The power generated from the plant is delivered to the national grid through two 500kV transmission lines one of which runs from Cocasinclair substation to the El Inga substation The project will reportedly affect approximately 2,000 people The major controversies are that it will render the San Rafael Falls dry and that the road constructions to the project site have led to deforestation in the UNESCO Sumaco Biosphere Reserve Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant in Ecuador’s Napo and Sucumbíos provinces began in July 2010 It was expected to have a capacity of 1,500 megawatts and forecast to export power to neighboring countries; however due to problems detected even before operations began the Ecuadorian National Assembly’s Oversight Commission initiated a process to determine responsibilities for structural and technical failures in the plant which China’s Sinohydro Corporation built with a more than $3-billion investment by the Ecuadorian State manager at the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC said before the Commission that they will not receive the plant as long as there are defects since Sinohydro did not comply with the contract Authorities are most concerned about the thousands of fissures and microcracks detected in the eight distributors that inject pressurized water into the turbines to generate energy the structure has impeller and shaft defects Coca Codo Sinclair’s business unit manager the first problems were detected 72 hours after the plant’s inauguration He added that authorities had found defects in the distributors four years earlier and he submitted reports to the Commission in which the manufacturing company Harbin — a Chinese subcontractor of Sinohydro — acknowledged that these machines had arrived in the country with thousands of fissures Despite undergoing seven welding processes the fissures in the distributors continue to appear technicians Vicente San Andrés and Kevin Báez Contractor Sinohydro has until the end of 2021 to complete repairs at the hydroelectric plant — a process that began in May due to a lack of solutions and persistent failures five years after operations began CELEC submitted a petition for international arbitration to fix at least 7,000 fissures in the turbine distributors and to have Sinohydro assume the total cost of these repairs and pay reparations to CELEC for damages According to Assembly member Fernando Villavicencio replacing these distributors could cost $1.01 billion We encourage you to republish Dialogue Earth articles, online or in print, under the Creative Commons license. Please read our republishing guidelines to get started Employees from Chinese company Sinohydro work in the tunnels of Ecuador’s Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project the plant has been plagued by technical problems and controversy From the beginning, it generated more doubt than certainty. And to this day, it has never generated its total installed power capacity. The Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant cost more than US$3.2 billion making it the most expensive infrastructure project in Ecuador’s history its many flaws are turning it into a white elephant in the middle of the Amazon and prompting national energy planners into a rethink Israeli, Iranian and Brazilian companies were among those to bid for the mega-project. But it was China’s Sinohydro that won, backed by a US$1.7 billion loan from The Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China that they included contracting a Chinese company to execute the project Construction of Coca Codo Sinclair began in 2006 and was presented as a symbol of a hydropower revolution in Ecuador’s energy sector under the government of former president Rafael Correa (2007–2017) “This work will be the engine of new companies the energy to make the leap to development will come,” Jorge Glas told an audience that included China’s president Xi Jinping at the November 2016 inauguration of the plant However, the plant has been undergoing repairs ever since. Recently, the situation has deteriorated drastically with the erosion of the Coca river – its lifeblood In 1992, Ecuador spent US$20 million on two feasibility studies for Coca Codo Both confirmed the feasibility and necessity of its construction their adequacy has been called into question the power plant still lacks vulnerability and risk studies,” said Luis Torres Fabricio Yépez, a professor in civil engineering at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, told Diálogo Chino that the 1992 studies established a risk to the water supply of the iconic San Rafael waterfall. The report found that if it dried up – as happened in February 2020 – it could trigger a process of “regressive erosion” eating up the river bed and destabilising land upstream and jeopardising Coca Codo’s own diversion reservoir In April 2020, erosion caused the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline System (SOTE) and the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) to rupture according to Yépez: “This type of project needs technical decisions in order to avoid suffering millions of dollars in losses,” adding that the contractor should have carried out definitive studies for the project including receiving components with notable damage The contract to supervise the works was signed in 2011 and was in force until 2018 “The audit approved and received distributors from the factory with cracks,” said Byron Orozco assistant manager of the Coca Codo Sinclair business unit snail-shaped pipelines that are vital to the operation of the plant as they receive water with enormous pressure and transfer it to the turbines for power generation “The auditors allowed this equipment to be covered with tons of concrete “The consortium recommended that these faults be repaired by welding They originated in the factory and were evident in 2015 when a re-inspection was carried out and determined that several of the quality [control] documents did not coincide with what was established on site.” Coca Codo Sinclair should produce more energy than Ecuador needs. Since 2020, however, it has faced recurrent stoppages due to damage to its intake structures, caused by erosion. From May to November this year, Sinohydro repaired internal cracks that were present even before the inauguration. During these months, the plant operated at less than half its capacity By 15 November, the work was complete. According to Celec, this would allow it to return to 100% of its installed capacity access to reliable energy information means this is difficult to confirm Given Ecuador’s surplus production and the environmental impacts associated with the Coca Codo Sinclair project unnecessary: “Since 2009…it was already known that due to the conditions of the site and the river it would not be possible to generate 1,500 MW The project has also run into obstacles in covering costs through insurance Seventeen Celec-owned projects have a risk policy with the state-owned insurer Seguros Sucre; Coca Codo Sinclair’s agreement expired on 1 August this year works that have cost the country US$8 million The insurer does not cover damages that it deems preventable, such as erosion and corrosion, Patricio Salas, the executive secretary of the Ecuadorian Federation of Insurance Companies (FEDESEG), told Diálogo Chino. The contract with Sinohydro establishes that the contractor itself must identify the origin and is responsible for them In May, Celec manager Gonzalo Uquillas announced at a press conference that the country’s diesel- and gas-fired power stations could make up the energy shortfall from Coca Codo’s reduced operations if it were to cease operations because of advancing erosion Santa Elena and Jaramijó thermo-powered plants would be fully recovered and provide enough energy to back up Coca Codo These types of projects need technical decisions to avoid suffering losses into the millions of dollars Hydropower costs US$0.04 per kilowatt hour (KWh) while thermoelectric power costs between $0.10 and $0.12 per KWh “These types of projects need technical decisions to avoid suffering losses into the millions of dollars,” explains Yépez in addition to an immediate solution to safeguard Coca Codo studies for the viability of works in the catchment area should be carried out again A report by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, an entity specialising in water resources and attached to the US State Department, described Celec’s mitigation works as being at “high risk of failure” “Some possible solutions have been proposed, but, at the moment, there is no study that tells us which of these options is the right one,” said Yépez. Some of these solutions include placing concrete screens under the intake works to dissipate erosion He added that Celec’s studies “do not have sufficient information and analysis to be able to define the correct solution” but in the best-case scenario its utility is highly compromised The US Army engineers’ recommendation to relocate the intake works would cost between US$400 million and $500 million “It is a very high cost and we Ecuadorians are dissatisfied and disillusioned because we still have to continue paying for a project that is not fully operational,” he said Richard Jiménez is an Ecuadorian journalist editor of the Expreso de Guayaquil and host of the podcast Mis Notas Allen Panchana is an Ecuadorian journalist and professor at the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil Select from our bespoke newsletters for news best suited to you We’ve sent you an email with a confirmation link 我们向您的邮箱发送了一封确认邮件，请点击邮件中的确认链接。如果您未收到该邮件，请查看垃圾邮件。 If you would like more information about the terms of our republication policy or permission to use content, please write to us: [email protected] We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 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started Ecuador’s San Rafael waterfall pictured in 2018 two years after the Coca Codo Sinclair dam became operational (image: Alamy) something strange happened in Cayambe Coca Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon located on the Coca River between the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos disappeared from its home of thousands of years The 150-metre-high waterfall – the highest in the country and a big tourist draw – stopped being part of the landscape Now the water falls a few meters behind it divided into three sections and with a less steep slope The river flows under an arch that survived the collapse of the land but from the place where it used to be photographed Sucumbíos province’s Emergency Operations Committee (COE) has restricted access to San Rafael and the Ministry of Environment (MAE) announced that it is carrying out studies to determine what happened Ecuadorian scientists are surprised by an event that cannot be remembered in Latin America’s recent history – be it natural or caused by human activity a geologist and former secretary of Natural Capital at the ministry The San Rafael waterfall did not actually disappear the river changed its course and the water now falls upstream It is located in an area of seismic and volcanic activity near the Reventador volcano one of the most active in the country having last erupted a decade ago Its lava and strong earthquakes that eroded the mountains thousands of years ago formed San Rafael “There are many quite intense earthquakes here a very strong one appeared that caused tremendous damage to the trans-Ecuadorian oil pipeline that passes right through it,” Carrasco recalls “That year I had the opportunity to evaluate the impact of the earthquake in that area There were floods of up to 20 meters above the level of the valley where the river passes.” Carrasco continues to analyse the formation of the San Rafael waterfall and ensures that at the same time as volcanic activity caused the natural damming of the river a natural process of water erosion began towards the base of the dam “It is very typical that the energy of the water falling erodes the base the phenomenon [the collapse of the waterfall] is eminently of natural origin,” he says what now worries Carrasco is that the new place where the river falls at three separate points is not an area with consolidated sediment These new falls cause a process of ‘regressive erosion’ which will change the morphology of the valley Carrasco says that in 30 to 50 years’ time these new waterfalls could be between three and five kilometres higher “It’s a very interesting phenomenon that will have to be monitored,” he says coordinator of the South America Water Program at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is concerned that the environment ministry cannot conclusively report on what happened at San Rafael “It must be very difficult to measure what happened and if there is a clear answer because I’m not sure that the ministry has the ability to investigate it We don’t know if there were previous studies or monitoring of the area.” it is very important to know if erosion in the area was monitored before and after the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant Coca Codo Sinclair’s diversion reservoir (the plant’s intake is ‘run-of-the-river’ not from a dam) is some 20 kilometres upstream from the San Rafael waterfall A waterfall that has been there for thousands of years does not collapse a few years after opening a hydroelectric project Coca Codo Sinclair is one of eight hydroelectric plants built by Chinese companies or financed by Chinese banks in Ecuador part of plan to transform its electricity matrix that has so far depended mostly on coal-fired thermoelectric plants The work, constructed by Sinohydro and financed by China EximBank, has had problems with cost overruns, worker strikes, and accidents such as the 2014 collapse of a pressure well that claimed the lives of 14 workers Mongabay contacted the ministry to ask about the existence of official technical information previous monitoring and any link between the diversion reservoir and the erosion of the waterfall It responded that the governor of Sucumbíos Governor Tony Rojas had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication Emilio Cobo hypothesises that the hydroelectric plant is indirectly related to the collapse of San Rafael The Coca Codo Sinclair plant is not located on the river but the diversion reservoir itself has a system of sand traps that remove sediment so as not to affect its operation an effect called ‘hungry waters’,” says Cobo “All rivers carry eroded sediments from the soils and rocks on which they pass All dams and reservoirs trap part of this sediment and thus deprive the downstream river of its normal sediment load.” 

Large reservoirs and dams will typically trap more than 90% The clear water under a dam is said to be ‘hungry’ and will seek to recover its sediment load by eroding the river bed and banks Patrick McCully writes in his book Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams While many Ecuadorian researchers find it hard to believe that the Coca Codo Sinclair plant influenced what happened with San Rafael Emilio Cobo is convinced it was no coincidence “A waterfall that has been there for thousands of years does not collapse These are processes that are in scientific papers and there is sufficient evidence that a dam can cause effects of this type on a river,” he says The collapse of San Rafael is such an important event for scientists that IUCN is set to hold an academic debate to find stronger scientific ground to determine what happened director of the National Water Reference Laboratory of the Ikiam Amazon Regional University also believes that there could be relationships between the hydroelectric plant and the waterfall’s collapse but I think it’s a process that is accelerated a bit more by human activities in the basin,” he says There’s no consensus that Coca Codo Sinclair is responsible for what happened and the company has not responded to requests for information Fears that the river would run out of water because of the plant’s construction has long been a concern Coca Codo Sinclair’s environmental study details the erosive processes and sediment dynamics that would be affected by the work but can’t say what implications this will have over decades “The designs of works and the way they were built- in the sixties and seventies did not consider climate change factors Ministry of the Environment officials inspect the place after the waterfall's disappearance Although geologist Alfredo Carrasco believes the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall to be a natural phenomenon he agrees with Cobo and Celi that the current risk is that the river bed will continue to erode and cause new landslides it could potentially affect the site where the waters of the hydroelectric project are captured I don’t want to speculate too much,” says Carrasco it is difficult for corrective measures to be taken unless the dam releases sediments the edges are more susceptible and new landslides could happen,” he says Celi believes that the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall would not mean a big impact on nature since this has served as a geographical barrier for many species for centuries “If the barrier [waterfall] had completely disappeared connectivity would have increased and some migratory fish could climb upstream The effect of what happened is that many sediments were suddenly released but after a while the rivers recover from those landslides,” he says Cobo believes that there will be “very serious” impacts on infrastructure in the Coca River channel between the waterfall and the collection dam that could compromise the future of the hydropower plant If the river depth increases by three or four meters the structures of bridges will be compromised Houses and other works could also be affected He is sure there will be costs that the State will then have to deal with Cobo is concerned about the impacts the erosive processes may have on freshwater species such as fish and macroinvertebrates the groups that have lost most species in the last 30 years according to the IUCN Red List of endangered species Ecuador has more rivers per square kilometre than any country in the world but Cobo says there is said a regional concern about what happened at San Rafael and the state of Latin America’s rivers The absence of fish means more hunting for monkeys and other species in the jungle when in reality it is a reduced surface that ends up absorbing many of the environmental impacts,” Cobo says The discussion about what happened with the San Rafael waterfall on February 2 promises will occupy scientists for a long time There are still more doubts than certainties and many contradicting views The researchers hope that this work will help Ecuador to become aware of its strengths successes and errors in environmental matters Alfredo Carrasco recalls the strong earthquake that in 1987 altered the level of the river in this area I will be taking pictures very soon,” he says This story originally appeared on Mongabay Latam Antonio Paz is Colombia and Ecuador editor at Mongabay Latam If you would like more information about the terms of our republication policy or permission to use content, please write to us: [email protected] and look for the columns to appear on Brewbound.com throughout the month We want to kick this series off by building a shared vocabulary We’re going to use a lot of industry lingo throughout these pieces (don’t sweat it though let’s define a few terms and discuss why they’re important to our endeavor Your brand is your customers’ perception of your company and ultimately shapes why they either love or hate you Your customers’ perceptions are the result of your messaging and brand voice — how you communicate who you are and what you’re about but most importantly through your brand identity Your brand identity is the visual language you use to tell your story This includes your logo (or “mark”) as well as icon system It can extend to your packaging system and website too but generally refers to things dealing with your core logo system Brand essence is a distillation of the most compelling idea behind your brewery It’s mostly an internal tool used to capture the spirit of your brewery rather than a public facing statement or tagline Think of it as a way of driving every decision you make during the rebranding process from the moment you define it If you can get specific and granular on this idea now it will make all branding work downstream more consistent and clear Positioning is the strategic act of defining your brewery’s core concept and how you’re different from your competition It’s defining a “space” in the market you can own that no one else can touch or lay claim to Rebranding represents a shift in your core messaging This can include refocusing your positioning and brand essence and manifests in a new name (optional) and an updated look and feel A brand refresh is more of an update — call it a fresh coat of paint Your core brand values and positioning still hold true but your brand identity may be showing its age Maybe your beer isn’t selling as well as it once did Do your marketing materials and other communications seem a bit tired problems like these can be solved with a refresh — an updated identity and packaging that builds on what you currently have The difference between a full rebrand and a refresh can seem semantic If you feel like you need to make substantial changes — your brewery’s name messaging and positioning along with your visuals (identity and packaging) If you’re simply tweaking some of the elements of your brand identity but maintaining the same general theme the need for a rebrand can be obvious and feel very pressing Although there’s no set-in-stone checklist for knowing when you need to rebrand we do see a recurring set of criteria leading up to breweries pulling the trigger Your overall look is dated and doesn’t reflect your core values It’s not uncommon for design to age poorly (I’m wearing boot cut jeans while writing this I get it.) If your brand identity was not professionally developed the design and your overall look can begin to quickly show its age And if you’re a brewery that’s growing and making some exciting moves Just think of any one of the cool or cutting-edge companies that you follow — do they have bad branding You’re making major changes within your company You’re no longer the small outfit you once were Perhaps you’ve brought in a new head brewer Maybe you’re planning to start canning that taproom favorite NEIPA and want to make it stand out on the shelf (but are worried it will clash with the rest of your packaging) you could be ready to transition from bottles to cans can fall flat without a solid and unified brand to support them New competition is leaving you in the dust High-energy startups will open in the same region and often position themselves against the established “Old Guard.” (Those jerks!) These upstarts dilute your market And their impact is exacerbated by the natural tendency among craft beer drinkers to overlook their old standbys in favor of trying the latest and greatest beer people are thinking about you less and less You’re expanding into new markets and are facing stauncher competition Breweries that are crushing it all over the country have solid branding and amazing beer it’s only a matter of time until you clash with such a brewery And this works both ways — big-time breweries can bring the fight to your backyard too You feel like you’re always reinventing the wheel We’ve heard several breweries say it feels like they’re starting from scratch every time they name a beer or release a new SKU They don’t know what logo to use or what colors or illustration style to go for Preparing for the launch of what should be a fun and exciting new product quickly becomes overwhelming A rebrand can cure this headache by clearly defining your visual rules so you can kick out new beers as needed without breaking your back You’re self-conscious of your branding and packaging either sheepishly mentioned in a meeting or implied as we begin working to understand our clients’ needs you can read between the lines when you hear things like “I hate wearing our shirts to festivals and conferences,” or “Our festival setup looks like shit compared to everyone else.” There’s no need to be shy about this You care about what you do and should want to put your best foot forward If you don’t feel like your brand is doing that for you now Here are two different breweries (from the U.S and Canada) on why they decided to rebrand in the past and still legally were named that while doing business as Red Brick Brewing Co Red Brick Brewing just didn’t resonate with us at all It seemed silly to have Atlanta Brewing Co we felt that the original name had to be used allows you to tell the story of the oldest brewery in the state and our local fans to feel more of a connection with the brand We started working with a business consultant in 2017 and one of their first recommendations was to redesign our packaging we realized we hadn’t had a graphics update in about 10 years And A LOT had changed in this time — we were the first brewery in Montana to package its beer in cans and among the first handful of breweries to do so nationally The craft landscape had become much more competitive and while our existing customer base was aging new customers are aging INTO the craft demographic every day we’d had a number of different artists design our different labels We felt our brand was starting not just to drift but be chaotically redesigned without any real intention We also had some other particular issues like inconsistencies among each package — the logo in the upper right on this package and in the upper left on that package Another interesting phenomenon that we were running into had to do with our flagship beer Our sales team was letting us know that when they would make a sales call and introduce themselves as being from KettleHouse Brewing But when they clarified they were from ‘the Cold Smoke brewery,’ they heard If you’re updating your look in an attempt to move away from a negative reputation (PR disaster etc.) without making core internal changes Newly designed packaging may grab someone’s attention in a grocery store but if that beer isn’t great or if you’re still a shitty company you’ll lose the chance for repeat business Unless you already have a solid foundation to build upon (great beer and strong leadership attempting to rebrand is akin to putting lipstick on a pig a great logo can’t make a bad beer taste better (or a poorly run business more viable) we’ll dive into how to weigh your brand equity as you determine whether Evolution or Revolution makes sense for your rebrand The exercises in Section 1 of the Craft Beer Rebranded workbook will help you identify why you’re rebranding and how can we determine what issues need to be resolved through this process Download the WORKBOOK here Craft Beer, Rebranded (and its companion Workbook) are available to read and purchase at craftbeerrebranded.com. If you’d like to discuss this book in person, catch up with CODO at the 2020 Craft Brewers Conference in Texas where they’ll be presenting a seminar titled “Using Science to See What Packaging Works and How Your Brewery Can Sell More Beer.” Early Registration Open You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience a leading craft beer and beverage alcohol branding firm has released its 7th annual Beer Branding Trends review The 2022 Craft Beer Branding Trends review explores package design trends Brand Architecture and the burgeoning “Beyond Beer” category CODO has broken the piece into four core areas: “reinvention,” Beyond Beer Brand Architecture and visual (branding and package design) trends CODO tapped fourteen industry experts to provide context from a variety of angles on what’s shaping craft beer today Key industry trends covered include a concept called “Dayparting,” brewery rebrands and Brand Architecture strategies for launching Beyond Beer extensions Some of the package design trends identified include “Minimal Plus,” “60’s Vintage Revival,” “Monoline,” “Skulls” and “Custom Dielines.” CODO spoke with leaders spanning brewery founders CODO will be fielding questions about this piece in the June issue of the Beer Branding Trends Newsletter and on upcoming Beer Branding Trends Podcast episodes For More Information:https://cododesign.com/2022-beer-branding-trends/ the founders of Indianapolis-headquartered CODO Design break down the beer branding trends to watch in 2022 and beyond following the release of their annual branding trends review Arthur and Fague offer insights into brand refreshes Listen to the episode below or on popular platforms such as iTunes Follow this link to read CODO’s 2022 Beer Branding Trends,  or listen to their overview podcast here, followed by a Q&A podcast here or ideas for Brewbound Podcast guests or topics The information contained in this recording was obtained from publicly available sources has not been independently verified by Goldman Sachs and Goldman Sachs has no obligation to provide any updates or changes All price references and market forecasts are as of the date of recording This podcast is not a product of Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research and the information contained in this podcast is not financial research The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of Goldman Sachs and may differ from the views and opinions of other departments or divisions of Goldman Sachs and its affiliates Goldman Sachs is not providing any financial or tax advice or recommendations in this podcast The information contained in this podcast does not constitute investment advice or an offer to buy or sell securities from any Goldman Sachs entity to the listener and should not be relied upon to evaluate any potential transaction the receipt of this podcast by any listener is not to be taken to constitute such person a client of any Goldman Sachs entity Neither Goldman Sachs nor any of its affiliates makes any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this podcast and any liability therefore (including in respect of direct indirect or consequential loss or damage) is expressly disclaimed Boats dock off the coast of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos The negotiations between China and Ecuador on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) have proceeded smoothly has released its 6th annual Craft Beer Branding Trends review The 2021 Craft Beer Branding Trends review explores package design trends emergent beverage opportunities and lasting COVID-19 effects CODO has broken the piece into three core areas: trends driven by COVID-19 and visual (branding and package design) trends CODO tapped eighteen industry experts to provide context from a variety of angles on what’s shaping craft beer today (and tomorrow) Some of the major industry trends covered include brewery rebrands and packaging refreshes a focus on brand architecture (including a look at why “Endorsed Brands” are such a popular approach for launching brand extensions) “clean labels,” non-alcoholic beverages and hard seltzer Some of the package design trends identified include “Chobani-fication,” “Slaps,” “Bifurcation,” “Vintage Mascots,” “Tombstone Typography,” and opportunities for more compelling art direction as breweries move further into eCommerce and direct-to-consumer channels CODO spoke with folks spanning brewery founders For More Information:https://cododesign.com/2021-craft-beer-branding-trends/ on February 22 Ecuador’s attorney general Diana Salazar ordered the arrest of 36 individuals for allegedly receiving kickbacks from the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam the country’s largest ever infrastructure project The accused include former president Lenín Moreno; his wife and daughter; two former Chinese ambassadors to the capital Quito; and two former executives from state utility around $76m was syphoned off from the $2bn project via an account in Panama Mr Moreno allegedly received a $200,000 apartment in Alicante The scandal is the latest fallout from China’s growing role in building key infrastructure across the developing world especially for governments in political and financial difficulties Cut off from international financial markets after turning his back on the IMF in 2008 Ecuador’s then president Rafael Correa turned to Beijing to finance a huge expansion of infrastructure he signed a contract to build the giant dam with Sinohydro a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) the structure now supplies around a fifth of Ecuador’s electricity Mr Moreno — who was Mr Correa’s vice-president before succeeding him in 2017 and serving until 2021 — has denied the charges Supporters say he is the victim of a political witch-hunt to divert attention from the current government’s legal problems Sinohydro said it was committed to continuing collaborating with the authorities and acting transparently. “It appears to us untimely inappropriate and unfair to use Sinohydro’s image in the case without any justification,” the company added Chinese-built infrastructure in Latin America has expanded rapidly over the past two decades and shows no signs of stopping Of the $98bn-worth of projects developed since 2005 more than half were launched between 2019 and 2021 according to a database compiled by Enrique Dussel economics professor at Mexico’s National Autonomous University Chinese firms can now be found building metro systems in Bogotá phone networks in Chile and hospitals in Colombia. “For the last five years the catchword has been diversification,” Mr Dussel says and power lines under a strategy to boost trade and its influence in the world. Chinese contractors such as Sinohydro and PowerChina have played a key part in China’s infrastructure push participating in projects worth $14bn in Latin America alone.  But many fear that China’s concrete diplomacy is not all its cracked up to be inspectors have detected more than 8000 fissures in the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam which has been operated by state power firm Celec since coming online The US Bureau of Reclamation project has also blamed the project for major erosion along the Coca river including the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall Western critics also accuse China of saddling developing countries with unsustainable levels of debts as they struggle to pay for Chinese-built large-scale projects Loans linked to Coca Codo Sinclair and three other hydroelectric projects across Ecuador accounted for four-fifths of Quito’s $5.4bn debt to China The US government fears this leverage could be increasing Beijing’s influence across the region Honduras became the latest country to break ties with Taiwan Beijing’s non-negotiable condition to establish diplomatic trade and investment ties with any country around the globe. Seeking to counter what it labelled China’s “debt-trap diplomacy” Washington’s Development Finance Corporation agreed in 2021 to extend Ecuador a $3.5bn credit line for the early redemption of Chinese debt.  But China’s growing role in emerging markets comes after decades of relative neglect from governments in Europe and North America. For example Chinese companies have often shown greater tolerance for risk than their Western counterparts investing heavily in countries shunned by financial markets or wracked by civil strife.  “European and American firms have shied away from projects in Latin America because they are not profitable in the medium term But China has a more long-term vision,” notes Mr Dussel And while Chinese engineering may sometimes lack the finesse of its Western rivals its projects are not the only ones to get into difficulties an energy expert at the Washington-based Rand Corporation.   Hydroelectric projects require highly complex engineering that is rarely completed on time and to budget the Alto Maipo project in Chile was finished eight years behind schedule after tunnel diggers ran into complicated geology Built by Austria’s Strabag and Germany’s Hochtief for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by US power company AES the SPV went bankrupt and had to restructure its debt after it incurred a total cost of $3bn — three times above budget.  infrastructure and corruption is hardly a novelty in Latin America the Odebrecht corruption scandal — where the Brazilian construction firm handed bribes to local ruling elites in exchange for infrastructure contracts — swept the region and dragged down local politicians at the highest levels.  the majority of the 200 Chinese-built infrastructure projects in Latin America are operating normally according Mr Dussel. “I’ve not seen any study that says all Chinese firms are corrupt and those from Switzerland aren’t,” he adds And after two decades of incessant activity China’s builders are growing increasingly skilled in how to operate abroad and are becoming important providers of critical infrastructure. In the Chilean capital Santiago commuters scoot up and down the busy Avenida Grecia on hundreds of Chinese electric buses running on Chinese charging infrastructure Colombians and Mexicans will soon be getting to work on Chinese-built metro systems “If these work — and I think they will — this will be the best propaganda for Chinese infrastructure projects,” says Mr Dussel This article first appeared in the April/May 2023 print edition of fDi Intelligence Do you want more FDI stories delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletters attract investment and stay competitive in the world of foreign and domestic direct investment The collapse of the San Rafael waterfall on Feb 2 and the accelerated regressive erosion that began to occur on the riverbed and edges of the Coca River have turned into a huge problem for the Ecuadoran government The San Rafael waterfall, the highest in Ecuador, is located in Cayambe Coca National Park, between the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos. When the 150-meter (500-foot) falls disappeared, experts consulted by Mongabay warned of the enormous risk this phenomenon posed especially to the oil pipelines that pass through the area and the catchment dam of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant three pipelines ruptured due to landslides along the river and spilled nearly 57,000 liters (15,000 gallons) of oil into the river affecting downstream Indigenous Kichwa villages and communities The communities have complained of a lack of “effective and timely reparation” to address the threat More than two months ago they sued the government and the oil companies Only after the oil spill occurred did the government led by the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources Minister René Ortiz acknowledged that they “started monitoring more frequently after the fortuitous incident of April 7.” The Ecuadoran government and several geologists insist the fast-creeping collapse of the riverbed is a natural phenomenon despite the fact that other experts consulted by Mongabay say the erosion process could have been accelerated due to the sediment retention at the Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) dam the erosion is progressing rapidly and is putting at risk the entire upstream area of the now-disappeared San Rafael waterfall One of Cobo and Carrasco’s main concern is that since June erosion has already been seen not only progressing along the Coca River but also along one of its tributaries This has put at risk a bridge on the Baeza-Lago Agrio road The road had to be closed as a precaution for more than a month coordinator of the IUCN’s South America water program said the erosive front in the main channel of the Coca River stopped for a month and a half due to rocky debris from the Reventador volcano But those rocks have been gradually giving way “With the rain of the last three weeks the process has returned to a rapid rate of erosion There were times when it advanced more than 100 meters [330 feet] per day natural resources management consultant and former secretary of natural capital at the Ministry of Environment (MAE) added that “between July 3 and 6 the erosion progressed 540 meters,” or nearly 1,800 feet Carrasco has visited the area on several occasions and has been closely monitoring the erosion He said he reached the Coca River on July 1 and found that the regressive erosion was no longer at the confluence of the Montana and Coca rivers but 450 meters (nearly 1,480 feet) upstream the erosion had advanced by another 475 meters (1,560 feet) “The process was so accelerated that I was surprised The waterfalls that I had seen in June [that had been forming as the erosion progressed] have already disappeared and erosion of about 35 meters [114 feet] is probably advancing in those places Erosion could reach the town of Manuel Galindo in the next 15 days if the river’s energy caused by the rains is maintained,” Carrasco said He said it’s important to constantly monitor the Coca and Montana rivers and other bodies of water that could be affected by the erosion: the Loco River Several geologists note that at the Malo River about 5 km (3.1 mi) upstream from where the erosive front is currently located there may be an area of ​​volcanic lava that could act as a stable anchor point in the long term erosion will continue to progress and that’s worrying,” Cobo said “I don’t think it will reach the [Coca Codo Sinclair] dam in less than a year but both the pipelines and the highway will be exposed The Montana River is already dealing with the consequences and it is possible that the Marker River will begin an erosion process in the coming weeks.” According to official information from the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources by April 24 the erosion had already advanced 1.7 km (1.1 mi) Coca Codo Sinclair issued a statement where the vice minister of electricity and renewable energies said they had “almost 100% confidence that the hydroelectric power station was not at imminent risk not even in the medium or long-term.” acknowledged on July 9 that the CCS catchment dam could be in danger “We are taking preventive measures before this infrastructure [CCS] is at risk,” Ortiz said the general manager of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec) said that “the risk of CCS being affected still exists and that is why it’s essential that we take precautions The fundamental variable is the speed of the regressive erosion process which will tell us how much time we have to intervene.” Despite the warnings that experts like Cobo and Carrasco have given since February about the disappearance of the San Rafael waterfall and the erosion of the Coca River only on May 11 did the Ecuadoran government sign an official declaration of emergency in this important area of ​​Cayambe Coca National Park the government hired three consultants: one to conduct hydrogeological studies and to plan the new infrastructure; another for topographic studies; and the third for geological studies the energy ministry announced the outcome of the consultants’ studies and declared that the construction of new infrastructure would begin in the middle of the month the construction of a ramp that will be set in the river will begin the channel will be expanded to alleviate the force of the flow,” Ortiz said That would be only the first phase of the action plan consisting of several stages: commissioning a series of complementary studies 15; designing the new infrastructure by Aug constructing the said infrastructure in October which could take between seven and eight months to complete It’s estimated the strategy to deal with the regressive erosion of the Coca River will cost $20 million said this figure will change and costs will be even higher Uquillas also revealed some of the results and suggestions made by the consultants between 40 million and 60 million cubic meters (1.4 billion to 2.1 billion cubic feet) of sediment have been detached and that “the accumulation of sediment downstream could represent flood risks for nearby communities the Coca Codo Sinclair discharge tunnel and eventually the powerhouse,” Uquillas said The Ecuadoran government has many challenges ahead determining the speed of the erosive process and the search for rock formations in the river that can help contain the phenomenon “That is not easy and we must conduct hundreds of laboratory tests In many areas these formations are located up to 200 meters [660 feet] below the Coca riverbed,” Uquillas said the company hired to carry out the topographic survey upstream of the former San Rafael waterfall expressed the need to extend the study area 50 km (30 mi) downstream almost at the confluence of the Coca and Napo rivers Uquillas said it’s essential to track and monitor sediment levels in real time Mongabay previously reported how the oil spill that occurred between April 7 and 8 had affected about 27,000 Kichwa Indigenous people living downstream from the collapsed San Rafael waterfall have complained of health problems as a consequence of the spill as well as negative impacts on fishing and access to clean water for consumption they filed a lawsuit seeking precautionary measures representatives of the Native Union of the Ecuadoran Amazon Communities Federation (FCUNAE) from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadoran Amazon (CONFENIAE) marched on the Judicial Council of the city of Orellana to report the serious situation that their communes face due to “the worst oil spill of the last 15 years in the Ecuadoran Amazon the Kichwa indigenous people requested the reinstatement of the protective action hearing with precautionary measures which had been suspended for more than a month and stressed the need to respect due process and act quickly along with religious and human rights organizations is seeking comprehensive reparation for the damage caused “almost three months have elapsed from the filing of the action and no resolution has been given,” Jipa said the leaders of the communities had to travel for several hours in a canoe leaving our families to demand attention and justice from the government and the companies Petroecuador and OCP,” he said referring to the operators of the pipelines the bottles [distributed by the oil companies] are not enough we have to use the river water even if it is contaminated.” with more than 60% of the environmental remediation already completed “This implies that there is still work to be done and for this we have more than 1,200 people working to achieve comprehensive reparation without sparing resources and will continue to do so until the end,” he said Grijalva added the company has delivered more than 1.3 million liters (343,000 gallons) of water and more than 18,000 food kits and has served more than 112 communities and more than 5,000 patients through medical brigades visiting the area “All these actions are being carried out in conjunction with EP Petroecuador,” he said said Petroecuador has built two bypass lines for each of the two pipelines that collapsed in April — the Trans-Ecuadoran Oil Pipeline System (SOTE) and the Shushufindi-Quito Polyduct — which has allowed it to move between 200 and 400 meters (660 and 1,310 feet) from the riverbed of the Coca River especially at the confluences of the Marker and Montana rivers The first bypass for SOTE was built in April running 1.75 km (1.09 mi); construction on the second began in May and will run 1.1 km (0.7 mi) runs 1.32 km (0.82 mi) and the second 1.8 km (1.1 mi) Soledispa said a third bypass is planned for SOTE that will have an extension of 0.79 km (0.49 mi) OCP’s Grijalva told Mongabay that the company built a 1.7-km (1.06-mi) bypass in the eroded area to reestablish crude exports said there “are hundreds of communities that not only see our right to a healthy environment but also our right to defense and access to justice “And although we are in this vulnerable situation the institutions do not reach the communities to offer us adequate and continuous medical care,” she said Banner image: The Coca River and the regression of the waterfall shows the Montana River beginning to be affected This story was first reported by Mongabay’s Latam team and published here on our Latam site on July 14 Coca Codo Sinclair, the flagship project in a massive hydropower drive in Ecuador, has been beset by delays and accidents and the cost has prevented the development of other renewables (image: Ministerio de Turismo Ecuador) Ecuador has embarked on the construction of a series of hydropower plants that seek to provide the country with enough energy to make blackouts a thing of the past and even export the surplus to neighbouring countries The other seven projects – either partially or wholly owned by Chinese contractors – have missed deadlines due to engineering and environmental problems accidents resulted in the death of some 26 workers Ecuador banked on the hydro sector to generate its own energy as well as a surplus to sell to neighbouring countries operational delays and accidents have compromised the country’s ability to repay the Chinese creditors financing construction of these projects The construction of Coca Codo Sinclair is an immense obstacle to achieving a truly clean energy matrix in Ecuador only four of those seven projects function They operate at almost their installed capacity according to the Electricity Regulation and Control Agency (ARCONEL) Ecuador’s hydroelectric plants seek to transform the country’s electricity grid which until now has depended on coal-fired thermoelectric plants Its commitment to increase the share of hydropower, up 35% with these projects, allows the country to significantly reduce its emissions of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change and meet its commitments made under the Paris Agreement Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS), Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric plant, which was due to begin operations in 2012, has experienced financing problems, strikes by workers demanding better conditions from contractor Sinohydro, and accidents such as the December 2014 collapse of a pressure well that claimed 14 lives eventually inaugurated at the beginning of 2016 has visible fissures in its water distributors according to a report by the Comptroller’s Office According to Ecuador’s Electricity Corporation (Celec) repair work at CCS will last approximately one year and the costs will be borne by the contractor “Ecuador will definitively not take over the plant until all the works permitting Coca Codo Sinclair to operate normally have been carried out,” Celec wrote in an email to Diálogo Chino In the case of the three plants that comprise the Mazar Dudas complex Celec unilaterally terminated the construction contract with China National Electric Engineering Company (CNEEC) for non-compliance According to the most recent data on Celec’s website construction of the engine room and the electromechanical assembly of the second San Antonio power plant were planned for 2018 Re-engineering studies for the third Dudas power plant were also scheduled for 2018 the moment you enter with the drilling machinery in hand you are hit with the reality of the rock itself The Quijos project also experienced problems due CNEEC’s non-compliance with technical standards This led Celec to terminate the contract in December 2015 There is currently a mediation process underway between the state attorney’s office and the Chinese firm Celec ended up awarding the assigning works to local company Proyaben S.A “They couldn’t make any progress as there were geological problems the studies are merely superficial,” said Marco Valencia undersecretary for Electricity Generation and Transmission at Ecuador’s energy ministry “Geophysical and geological analyses may be carried out but the moment you enter with the drilling machinery in hand In those two projects [Mazar Dudas and Quijos] we encountered geological problems like these and the contractor could not fulfil their obligations.” The Toachi Pilatón project is also in a state of paralysis Its facilities were 85.4% ahead of schedule which was later expelled from the country by the government Celec hired China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWEC) for the civil construction and the Russian Inter RAO UES to supply electromechanical equipment Correa ordered the termination of the builders’ contract in December 2016 After one-and-a-half years with no progress on 22 May 2018 Russian contractor Tyazhmash S.A was awarded the contract to complete works Ecuador produced approximately 23,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) most of which powered the country’s homes With the new hydroelectric plants in operation Lenín Moreno’s government has provided assurances that carbon dioxide CO2 emissions will be reduced due to the decrease in the consumption of fossil fuels in the thermoelectric plants each year we have seen a reduction of 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide,” Valencia said in 2014 and 2015 – the years with the highest thermoelectric production – Ecuador emitted an estimated 6 million tonnes of CO2 the figure is between 1.5 and 2 million tonnes However, the overall balance may not be so positive since the construction of hydropower plants has considerable environmental impacts, which, as figures for many of the projects show, also have big economic costs. They have also led to energy overproduction according to Paulina Garzón of the China-Latin America Sustainable Investment Initiative “It’s politically and economically non-viable for any Ecuadorean government to undertake genuinely clean energy projects such as wind or solar when it already has excess energy production and an onerous debt to repay,” said Garzón, who authored a book chapter on the projects and the loans that made them possible “The construction of Coca Codo Sinclair is an immense obstacle to achieving a truly clean energy matrix in Ecuador,” she added Ecuador has not had access to international capital markets leading Correa’s government to agree loan packages with China that are repaid with oil sales Ecuador had to pump more oil in order to meet repayment obligations calling into question both the economic and environmental sustainability of the model professor of ecological economics and energy at the Andean University developing hydroelectricity was the best alternative for changing the energy matrix “The reasonable thing would have been to select smaller projects where the national contribution could have been greater,” said Villavicencio who was also a former member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “That would have allowed the metal-mechanic industry to develop more; a great opportunity for national technological development was wasted and we would not have had the Chinese making all projects turnkey,” added Villavicencio in reference to the type of contract that affords decision-making power on works to the financier is that many companies were not prepared to sort out the technical problems they found and that the Ecuadorean government has been unable to monitor their work although there are several construction problems in need of monitoring in the remaining dams Villavicencio warned that Ecuador will fail to reap the benefits of hydropower if the country does not improve supervision of rivers that feed into the system Génesis Lozano is an Ecuadorean environmental journalist If you would like more information about the terms of our republication policy or permission to use content, please write to us: [email protected] A year ago this month, the Coca Codo Sinclair (CSS) dam began operation. The hydroelectric project, built by Chinese state corporation Sinohydro at a cost of $2.24 billion and managed by the Ecuadorian state electric company (CELEC) is the largest infrastructure project in Ecuadorian history as well as being one of its most environmentally and socially controversial The Ecuadorian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Resources says that CCS has an operating capacity of 1,500 megawatts (MW) and is projected to produce roughly 8,734 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year — 30 percent of the country’s annual electricity needs The government claims $600 million in oil imports will be saved each year as a result of the dam’s construction and the country aims to become a net electricity exporter CCS is the largest of a series of Ecuadorian development projects financed and constructed by Chinese actors in the past decade China has become the country’s primary creditor and Chinese investment has resulted in an infrastructure boom in new dams So how did the nation get here under the leadership of President Rafael Correa and where does the future lie under President Lenin Moreno — and will China continue to play an outsized role In 2008, Ecuador’s governing Alianza País Party, following the election of Rafael Correa to the presidency, wrote a new constitution predicated upon Buen Vivir (the ”Good Life”) committing the country to indigenous rights environmental sustainability and state sovereignty Correa praised the codification of indigenous and environmental values into law as the defining features of Ecuadorian development and proclaimed that a “Citizen’s Revolution” was underway Central to the Correa Administration’s development plans (called the National Plans for Buen Vivir) was a realignment of the energy matrix the country sought to reduce dependency on both Western creditors and on a petro economy that Correa felt was bleeding state revenue for the advantage of foreign transnationals The benefits of clean energy development were marketed as transformative Building megaprojects would create quality jobs and generate profits that could be used to fund massive social and poverty-alleviating education including the construction of eight hydroelectric dams in the Ecuadorian Amazon – all of which have been built “Ecuador was being robbed on two fronts before Correa was elected,” a local communities leader near CCS (and a former CELEC employee) said “The state was subsidizing hydroelectric projects to pay for oil debts while at the same time subsidizing energy imports Gaining more energy independence was the best thing the Correa government did.” Observers, looking back, note how Alianza País coopted Buen Vivir’s optimistic ideology to strengthen the party’s ruling position Correa consolidated power and initiated an elite-led industrial planning process that short circuited many constitutional provisions guaranteeing local community participation and consent in development projects Correa effectively created a new political-economic elite protected by law through his new constitution,” said a former Petroecuador executive who also spoke on condition of anonymity “Correa didn’t try to create a development strategy for four He wanted the party to be in power for a hundred.” Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have discussed how through its use and branding of Buen Vivir the government equated infrastructure construction and resource extraction with nationhood or “la patria.” Correa created an environment where opposition to projects that the government dubbed “strategic” to national development was equivalent to opposing the nation itself While Correa’s first years saw improvements in health, education and literacy indicators, a sharp drop in commodity prices and recession in 2013 revealed the shaky foundation of Ecuador’s economy: a twin reliance on oil and Chinese finance A 2015 study by the International Renewable Energy Agency found that — despite the stated rhetoric of “changes to the productive matrix,” including a 60 percent renewables target by 2017 geothermal solar and wind energy generation — the percentage of oil production comprising Ecuador’s power supply and total energy consumption actually increased between 2000 and 2012 Correa’s daring development proposals were popular but not without negative consequences. Upon assuming office, the president declared $3.2 billion of Ecuador’s foreign debt “illegitimate,” saying the time had come for Western “monsters” to stop oppressing the country While this move turned out to be somewhat successful in alleviating Ecuador’s foreign debt obligations international markets and creditors did not respond kindly Correa was labeled a pariah by many international policymakers and financiers and Ecuador faced a shortage of credit from its traditional lenders Following the debt cancellation, China presented itself as a lender of last resort The two countries found common ground ideologically under their shared self-identification as “21st century socialist” developing countries They also served each other’s economic needs with China providing the seemingly endless lines of credit that Ecuador so badly required and with Ecuador offering a potentially profitable outlet for Chinese state enterprises and domestic industrial overcapacity Many authorities attribute the close China/Ecuador ties to China’s enormous population and thirst for natural resources. However, revelations that Chinese state-owned oil companies were simply rerouting Ecuadorian oil to the United States cast doubt on that narrative Instead of using Ecuadorian oil to fuel the Chinese economic machine Petrochina sold it in regional markets for profit In practice, Ecuador’s Buen Vivir plans revolved largely around the development of hydropower and “responsible mining” in the Amazon region These projects were mostly funded through a combination of Chinese capital and oil proceeds Calculations… show that emissions from storage hydroelectric dams would exceed those from electricity generation based on fossil fuels.” In a study of more than a hundred existing hydropower dams in the Amazon published in Nature an international team of 16 academics asserted that “the accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin’s floodplains estuary and sediment plume.” They also note that “the social and environmental impacts of large dams are severe disruptive and characteristically irreversible.” Carolina Viola Reyes, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, wrote that projects like CCS “open a series of questions about [their] real impacts: on one side about the country’s [economic] development concerning the territories and populations located in the area influenced by the projects.” The communities leader quoted earlier in this story told Mongabay that local communities surrounding the CCS construction site were opposed to it during the planning period but were too small to challenge the power of the Correa Administration which approved the environmental impact assessment for the CELEC Coca Codo Sinclair project through its Environment Ministry “It would have been David versus Goliath,” said the leader Basic geology puts that approval in question: the CCS dam sits within a highly seismically active zone beneath the El Reventador Volcano an area that scientists have advised against developing since the 1970s A 1998 proposal to construct on the current site was rejected because it failed to meet required environmental regulations The former Petroecuador executive related how earthquakes in 1986 2010 and 2012 caused significant damage to properties homes and businesses surrounding the CCS site an area containing a population of roughly 2,000 people Concerns over the dam’s vulnerability to seismic activity persist it would be catastrophic,” a CELEC employee told Mongabay one of Ecuador’s primary tourist attractions One section of the Coca River has vanished directly downstream from a subterranean tunnel drilled 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) through the bedrock a tunnel through which the river’s water is routed to the project’s turbines An independent study of the environmental impact assessment submitted for CCS (and prepared by Sinohydro) enumerated a variety of adverse affects including deforestation; improper waste removal impacting domestic water supplies; changes in subterranean runoff; fluctuations in water flows and flood patterns; and threats to flora and fauna in the surrounding Cayambe-Coca National Park and Sumaco Natural Reserve Multiple senior state officials have recounted how the government purposefully did not enforce labor and safety regulations during CCS construction at the behest of Chinese officials running the project a situation that not only eroded local labor relations but also resulted in 13 deaths during construction These regulatory lapses caused a nine-month delay in construction this reporter observed leaks springing out of the walls all around the turbines while small streams of water ran beneath the feet of workers attending to electrical panels – a potential work hazard saying: “it’s a dam – there’s water everywhere!” CELEC and the Ecuadorian Environment Ministry told Mongabay that all relevant environmental and social regulations were followed in the planning and construction of CCS Sinohydro did not respond to requests for comment The CELEC guide listed CCS benefits to nearby communities including the building of 50 kilometers (31 miles) of paved roads and the employment of “many” Ecuadorians with the local government expanding the road network and adding new side roads that allow farmers in rural area to get their goods to market more easily locals say that during the seven years of dam construction there were anywhere from five to ten thousand workers in the CCS area This number was split between Chinese and Ecuadorian laborers with most Ecuadorians being engineers from Quito Almost none of this labor came from local communities and the workforce lived in special camps built near the dam site CELEC’s and Sinohydro’s contribution to nearby communities was a soccer field and a school a boarded-up building near one of the abandoned camps had been used as a brothel for Chinese laborers “It was always a good time at ‘The University,’” he told Mongabay While the construction of large dams like CCS often can result in a tradeoff between national development and socio-environmental welfare A CELEC official noted that the current Lenin Moreno led government is exploring the country’s significant geothermal potential with the aid of an $8 million Japanese loan the same official then followed up with an excited pitch for a new 5,000 MW dam (more than three times the size of CCS) in the final stages of planning by Sinohydro on the Zamora River in Ecuador’s southern Amazon region there is little to point to in terms of concrete infrastructure policy since President Moreno’s election in May; most of his energy to date has gone into distancing himself from Correa and those loyal to the ex-president in the Alianza País Party Observers believe the most likely Chinese investments under Moreno will come in the form of acquisitions not through the development of new projects steps made so far by the administration have been secretive and shrouded in a cloud of rumor Multiple government officials told Mongabay that the Moreno administration is trying to find ways to diversify away from Chinese investment, including new attempts at debt renegotiation. Additionally and not trivially, Moreno is facing a serious challenge to his leadership within the party having been removed from his position as party leader (filled by former Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño) Some experts even believe that Correa could be back in power in some form very soon Chinese investment and large infrastructure development seem likely to be limited for the near future It also remains difficult to know whether the Correa administration’s close relationship with Chinese banks is now being threatened by Moreno’s attempt to shift the country’s political trajectory What seems clear to critics is that Correa’s single-minded infatuation with Chinese-built infrastructure projects helped put Ecuador in the current uncertain political fiscal and environmental bind that it finds itself today FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] IN – CODO Design is proud to share its branding work with Indianapolis’ newest brewpub The project took over a year to complete and sought to position Big Lug as a bright and welcoming neighborhood hangout in Nora “It was fun looking at how brewpubs are traditionally positioned,” said CODO Partner “and then completely flipping that around to delight people This relationship resulted in brand strategy consisting of naming and developing a modular identity system and a vibrant environmental design package Big Lug Canteen officially opened off of Indianapolis’ beautiful Monon Trail on October 12 CODO Design is an Indianapolis branding and web design firm founded on the belief that we can create better design by including our clients in the creative process and responsive web design to the food and beverage industry We partner with breweries across the United States We treat our brewing at Big Lug with the respect beer deserves spared no expenses when it came to quality hops and malts and focused on beer styles that are full flavored and excite drinkers to take another sip and spirits that two self-identifying big lugs like to eat and drink Big Lug Canteen is located at 1435 E 86th St the Ecuadorian hydropower plant Central Coca Codo Sinclair has been looking for an efficient and cost-effective solution to streamline the inspection and repair of hydro turbine they began experimenting with the SHINING 3D’s FreeScan Combo 3D scanner Central Coca Codo Sinclair is Ecuador’s largest and most crucial hydropower plant It generates at least one-fifth of the country’s electricity each year Central Coca Codo Sinclair has a total of eight turbines And they activate turbines differently depending on the volume of water the system starts 1-2 turbines and when the water is high the turbine blades become slightly worn from sand and gravel in about one month Central Coca Codo Sinclair sends the turbines to the Center for Research and Recovery of Turbines and Industrial Parts (CIRT) in Chile or Ecuador for repairs at three-month intervals transporting the turbines back and forth was costly and time-consuming for Central Coca Codo Sinclair The need for a better solution led Central Coca Codo Sinclair to explore more advanced 3D scanning technologies They wanted something more efficient and cost-effective Central Coca Codo Sinclair contacted BSTARTECHNOLOGY S.A and they introduced the FreeScan Combo 3D scanner they agreed that it was a cost-effective solution as it could improve the efficiency of turbine blade inspection and repair BSTAR was able to provide scanning services to Central Coca Codo Sinclair so technicians could easily carry it to the hydropower plant for scanning the FreeScan Combo allowed technicians to easily scan in narrow spaces between turbine blades because of its compact size Central Coca Codo Sinclair saved a lot of money on transporting the turbines The inspection process begins with a technician using the FreeScan Combo to perform a precise 3D scan of the turbine blades the FreeScan Combo can acquire 1.86 million points per second It scans faster than the scanner previously used by BSTAR which could acquire 0.86 million points per second in multiple lines scan mode the FreeScan Combo also offers smoothness as it is able to achieve frame rates of more than 120 frames per second the FreeScan Combo’s multiple lines scan mode can help quickly acquire global data Using the parallel lines scan mode on areas of the blade that have wear and tear can acquire more detailed data This can help determine the extent of wear and make more accurate repairs SMI company is now carrying out turbine repairs for Central Coca Codo Sinclair the turbine blades are scanned a second time the scanned data is compared to that of a brand-new blade A tolerance of no more than 2 millimeters is required Central Coca Codo Sinclair inspects and repairs turbines with the help of BSTAR They have a complete and smooth process in place This process has resulted in significant efficiency and cost savings for Central Coca Codo Sinclair The plant no longer needs to spend time and money transporting equipment off-site And the 3D scanner’s high accuracy ensures the data quality required for repair work For more information: www.shining3d.com HOME PAGE LINK INDIANAPOLIS – CODO Design announces a new line of specialty cans designed for 450 North Brewing Co Indiana) Citra Fest is a session IPA featuring Citra The cans can be found now across central Indiana and CODO Design first partnered in 2012 for the brewery’s foundational branding they have worked together to develop a line of popular house beers “The house beer cans are evocative of 450 North’s beautiful and hang together with subtle farm-esque patterning The more illustrative and colorful specialty cans are a direct representation of 450 North’s development as one of Indiana’s favorite craft breweries.” Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the strategic public company Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC EP in Spanish) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to articulate technical cooperation to “mitigate the effects of regressive erosion on the Coca River and protect the water catchment works of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.” The goal of the MOU is “the development of joint activities in engineering services; environmental sustainability; river infrastructure operation and maintenance; damage reduction; risk analysis; [and] protection and restoration of the environment along rivers.” In addition it seeks to develop experience exchanges in river engineering technologies in the cantons of El Chaco and Gonzalo Pizarro It is projected to generate 1,500 megawatts to cover 30 percent of the country’s electricity demand the advance of regressive erosion seriously threatens water catchment works and puts the operations of this strategic project at risk director of the School of Environmental Management at the International University of Ecuador regressive erosion is a natural phenomenon “The hydrodynamics of a river is so strong that it can eat away at the banks and slopes surrounding its channel It is regressive when the undermining eats up the riverbed but in the opposite direction of its course.” CELEC EP’s General Manager Gonzalo Uquillas said that the scale to which regressive erosion and progressive sedimentation are advancing in the Coca River after the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall making it essential for subject matter experts to advise and guide as to the best solutions Fitzpatrick said that this collaboration process began in 2020 “Our government activated a response group in May […] in order to facilitate and channel cooperation processes to address this phenomenon,” he said technical assistance teams working with their CELEC EP counterparts made three visits to the site to assess the situation and develop additional erosion and damage mitigation options While this memorandum of cooperation between the U.S and Ecuadorian governments is not a binding document it is a precursor to a formal agreement (letter of agreement) to contract USACE’s engineering services which anticipates five years of cooperation from the date of signing