Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · Brazil · 2010–2025
Federal prosecutors say Belo Monte dam's Xingu flow schedule collapsed in 2025
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Brazil's federal prosecutors said in 2025 that the Belo Monte dam's flow schedule on the Xingu River had collapsed, and a court ordered a revision. In 2010 licensing staff had objected to partial installation approval, and the sources reviewed do not verify the fish-kill and bribery claims.
What?
Belo Monte is a dam on the Xingu River in Pará, Brazil; federal prosecutors said in 2025 that its flow schedule had collapsed and a court ordered a revision. Ministério Público Federal (MPF)
Where?
Volta Grande section of the Xingu River, Pará state, Brazil Ministério Público Federal (MPF)
When?
Licence dispute in 2010; prosecutors' findings and revision order in 2025 Amazon Watch
Who?
Gained
- Norte Energia — operates the dam
Lost
None on recordHarmed
- Xingu River, Volta Grande section — flow reduced; prosecutors say the flow schedule collapsed (2025) Ministério Público Federal (MPF)
- Residents displaced by the dam — 16,000 people, according to the government figure America Magazine
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Water diversion for hydropower reduced flow in the Volta Grande section, according to prosecutors Ministério Público Federal (MPF)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
In November 2010 the technical staff of Brazil's environmental licensing agency, IBAMA, recommended against a partial installation licence until the preliminary licence conditions were met, but permission was given to clear 238 hectares of vegetation, according to Amazon Watch.
Federal prosecutors said in 2025 that about 75 per cent of the river's water was directed to the plant and that the flow schedule had collapsed; a court ordered a revision.
The government put the number of people displaced at 16,000, according to America Magazine in 2019.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: more than 85,000 fish, about 30 tonnes, died at turbine intakes in 2015 to 2019, and fish species disappeared as flow fell in the Volta Grande section.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Norte Energia said the effects were smaller than predicted, and the coastal settlement area was cut from 32,000 to 9,000 hectares.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: about 6,000 fishers are waiting for compensation.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the builders Andrade Gutierrez, Camargo Corrêa and Odebrecht admitted cartel arrangements, and about 1 per cent of the contract value was allocated as bribes to governing parties.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the minister said IBAMA did not issue a negative opinion.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: critics put the number of people displaced at 20,000 to 50,000.
- None on record The scope and follow-up of the 2025 revision order are not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- COP30: MPF detalha falha do hidrograma de Belo Monte e apresenta dados que comprovam colapso do rio XinguMinistério Público Federal (MPF) · 2025
- Struggles of families uprooted by Brazil's Belo Monte reveal the dam's dark sideAmerica Magazine · 2019-07-15
Communities and civil society
- Construction of the Belo Monte dam could be delayedAmazon Watch · 2010-11-16
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Belo Monte hydrograph and Volta Grande flow reduction Brazil · 2015–2025 Related matter
- Norte Energia (Company) — here: operator of the dam; there: Operator of the Belo Monte dam
- Brazil: benefit-sharing fund (FNRB) and IBAMA biopiracy fines Brazil · 2014–2024
- IBAMA (Public authority) — here: licensing agency whose technical staff recommended against a partial licence; there: Environment agency that issued the biopiracy fines
- Brazil's army-led Verde Brasil spent USD 90.3m; deforestation rose above average Brazil · 2024
- IBAMA (Public authority) — here: licensing agency whose technical staff recommended against a partial licence; there: Brazil's environmental enforcement agency; benchmark for the 16-year spending comparison
- Cargill IBAMA fine (Brazil) Brazil · 2018
- IBAMA (Public authority) — here: licensing agency whose technical staff recommended against a partial licence; there: Brazilian environmental agency; imposed fine
- Foz do Amazonas drilling licence Brazil · 2023–2026
- IBAMA (Public authority) — here: licensing agency whose technical staff recommended against a partial licence; there: Federal environmental licensing agency
- Shell's 2022 stake in Brazilian REDD+ developer Carbonext Brazil · 2022
- Ministério Público Federal (Government agency) — here: federal prosecutors who reported the flow collapse; there: filed three suits in March 2026 against Ituxi, Carbonext and Verra