Brazilian environmental regulator Ibama aims to issue a second appeal to the federal court in Rondônia state to overturn the injunction against the 3.3GW Jirau hydro project.
Judge Élcio Arruda from the third district court in Rondônia on December 3 denied Ibama's first request to reverse the ruling, a spokesperson from the project consortium Enersus told BNamericas.
The injunction blocks Enersus from proceeding with initial construction works. Ibama in November granted Enersus the project installation license.
"We heard about the ruling last night and the consortium is still evaluating what to do," the spokesperson said in reference to the first rejection. Enersus is not appealing the decision because only Ibama was cited in the injunction.
The consortium on November 25 stopped work on Jirau's building site and watertight chamber.
"We suspended work the moment we received the notification from Ibama," according to the spokesperson.
The judge wants more information on the flood area and only plans to lift the injunction after Ibama has awarded the plant's definitive license.
The injunction puts at risk Enersus' plan to start Jirau operations in 2012. Brazil's power sector could lose 400mn reais (US$160mn) in the first year of a potential project delay, according to power regulator Aneel's forecasts.
"Last week, we had hopes the injunction would be revoked. Since it wasn't, we are performing an analysis to see if the timeline will be altered," the Enersus spokesperson said.
Multinational energy group GDF Suez has a 50.1% stake in Enersus and engineering firm Camargo Corrêa holds 9.9%. Federal power holding company Eletrobrás subsidiaries Eletrosul and Chesf each have 20%.
The FBOMS NGO sought the injunction.
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