Glossary

ACTIVE ELECTRIC ENERGY - Electric energy which can carry out work, expressed in kilowatts-hour (kWh).

ANA - National Water Agency, created by law 9.984/2001.

ANEEL - NATIONAL ELECTRICAL ENERGY AGENCY - a body created under special system, linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy - MME, created by Law 9.427 on December 26, 1996. It has the following responsibilities: to regulate and inspect the generation, transmission and distribution of sales of electrical energy, attending complaints from operators and consumers in a balanced way between the parties and the benefit of society; to mediate in conflicts of interest between the electrical energy operators and consumers; to grant, permit and authorize the construction of energy plants and services; to ensure fair tariffs; to pursue quality of services; to require that concession holders make investments; to encourage competition between the operators and ensure that services are universally available.

AQUATIC MACROPHYTES - Herbaceous plants which grow in the water, in soils covered or saturated by water, such as swamps and marshes.

ASSURED DEMAND - Demand which must be continuously available for the consumer, classified as "seasonal" or "rural" by the concession holder, at the point of delivery according to the value and period fixed in the contract.

ASSURED ENERGY - This constitutes the limit of the contraction of each hydroelectric plant. It corresponds to the fraction of Assured Energy allocated to it from the system which will constitute the limit of contraction determined by ANEEL, for hydroelectric generators of the system.

BACKLAND SPICES - A term which refers to certain spices and products found in the Brazilian hinterland which were sought in the period of colonialism. Examples: eupatorium, cinnamon, cocoa, Brazil nuts, cloves, guaraná, pepper, pixurim beans, fruit of the annatto tree and vanilla.

BIOFUELS - Any fuel from a biological origin (such as alcohol), which is not fossil.

BIOINDICATORS - During the measurement of the levels of pollution of the water, live organisms are used to indicate which environmental alterations modify the harmony of the chemical or biological composition of the region assessed.

BRAZILIAN ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE - This consist of more than 160 hydroelectric plants, 990 thermoelectric plants, 330 small electric centers, 270 electric generating centers and 20 wind plants, as well as one solar plant and two nuclear plants.

BULB TURBINE - Structure with a shape which is similar to a vegetable bulb, round at one end and narrow at the other.

CGH - Hydroelectric Generation Center, plants with potential of up to 1 MW.

COFFERDAM - Type of provisional barrier used to keep the construction area below the level of water dry after the water has been drained.

CONTRACTED DEMAND - Demand of active potential which must be continuously available for the consumer by the concession holder at the point of delivery according to the value and period fixed in the contract. It must be paid for in its entirety whether it is used or not during the billing period.

DEMAND - Measure of the active or reactive electric potential required from the electricity system by the installed charge and operation in the consuming unit, during a period of specific time.

DOWNSTREAM - Region of the river below the plant.

EIA - Environmental Impact Service.

ELECTRIC CHARGE - Field of force brought about by electrical charges, (electrons, protons or ions) or by a charging system.

ELECTRIC CURRENT - Quantity of charges which passes through a conductor in a given time interval. Measured in amperes (A).

ELECTRIC FIELD - Effect produced by a charge which can exert force on other charged particles.

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL - Capacity of an electrical field to carry out work measured in volts (V).

ELECTRIC POWER - Quantity of electric energy produced or used at a given period of time.

ELETROBRÁS - A mixed economy, listed company controlled by the federal government. Almost of 40% of the Brazil´s installed capacity comes under the control of Eletrobrás.

ENERGY AUCTIONS - Auctions through which the electric energy distributors were required to acquire electrical energy exclusively from January 1, 2003, in line with article 27 of Law number 10.438, of 2002

ENERGY EFFICIENCY - Rational use of energy which consists of using less energy to supply the same quantity of work or service.

ENERGY RESEARCH COMPANY (EPE) - Federal public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, created by Decree number 5.184, on August, 16 2004, based on Law number 10.847, of March 15 2004.

EXTRACTIVE RESERVE - Area used by the population whose livelihood is based on extractive activities, subsistence farming and raising small animals.

FLOODGATE - Moving door which holds back the waters of a dam, dike, weir or reservoir.

FOSSIL FUELS - Substances formed by carbon, used for combustion. They originate through the decomposition of organic materials and are also called Mineral Fuels. Examples: Petroleum, Natural Gas and Coal.

FOSSILS - Remains or traces of animals or plants preserved in rocks, sediment, ice or amber.

FREE CONTRACTED AREA (ACL) - Segment of the market where buying and selling electrical energy operations are made through Bilateral Contracts,  freely negotiated according to specific commercial Rules and Procedures, in line with Decree number 5.163, of 2004.

HEP - Hydroelectric plant with power above 50 megawatts (MW).

HOLY GROUND - Cemeteries and informal graveyards, located in rural area.

HYDROELECTRIC ENERGY - Using of the flow of the river for hydroelectric generation, according to prior, appropriate planning.

HYDROELECTRIC PLANT - Construction which transform kinetic energy from the movement of the river current into electrical energy.

ICHTHYIOFAUNE - The kind of fish in a region.

INSTALLED CAPACITY - Maximum energy generation capacity of a plant. Also known as Installed Power.

INSTALLED CHARGE - Sum of the nominal potential of the electrical equipment installed in a consumer unit, in a condition to function, expressed in kilowatts (kW).

INSTALLED POWER - Maximum potential of electrical energy generated in a plant, also known as Installed Capacity.

LI - Environmental Installation License, needed for the construction of a project which causes environmental impact.

LIMNOLOGY - Study of the extension of fresh water, such as lakes and rivers, in relation to the biological, chemical, physical, meteorological, geological or ecological structure.

LO - Operating Environmental License, license needed to start the activities of a project which is being constructed.

LP - Prior Environmental License, license needed to carry out viability studies of a determined project.

MARGINAL SLOPES - Inclined bank or slope on the banks of a river or reservoir.

MASS OF LARGE ROCKS - Mass of large rocks and other material, such as cement, laid one on top of the other into the water to serve as ballast to found the hydraulic work or a sea wall or protection against the erosion of the waves when the surface is very large.

MEGAWATT HOUR (MWH) - Unit equivalent to one megawatt of electrical energy supplied or used per hour or a million Watts-hour.

MEGAWATTS (MW) - Unit equivalent to one million Watts - basic power unit.

MITIGATION MEASURES - Actions taken to reduce or prevent certain impacts caused by the installation of a project.

NATIONAL INTERLINKED SYSTEM (SIN) Combination of linked installations and equipment responsible for supplying electrical energy in Brazil.

NUCLEAR ENERGY- Energy generated by chemical-radioactive processes.

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - Construction which generates electrical energy through the fission or fusion of materials.

PBA - Basic Environmental Plant.

PCH - Small Hydroelectric Centers, plants with potential between 1 and 30 MW.

PILOT BOAT - Light narrow launch which carries only a few passengers. Its prow is above the water when traveling at high speed. It is one of the most common forms of river transport in the Amazon region.

POTENTIAL - The size which determines the quantity of energy generated by a source during a certain period of time, expressed in kilowatts (kW).

POWER HOUSE - Building which houses each of the turbine generator and respective protection and control systems.

REACTIVE ELECTRIC ENERGY - Electric energy which circulates continuously between the various magnetic fields of an alternate current system, without producing work, expressed by kilovolt-ampere-reactive-hour (kVArh).

REGULATED CONTRACTED AREA (ACR) - Segment of the market in which buying and selling electrical energy contracts are made between Selling and Distributors Agents, preceded by auctions, except for cases laid down in law, according to the specific commercial Rules and Regulations,  in line with Decree number 5.163, of July 30, 2004.

RELOCATION - The change of communities affected by the HEP to another location.

RIMA - Environmental Impact Report

RIVER MOUTH - Point where the river water flows into the sea, lake or another river.

SEISMIC ACTIVITY - Movement of geological layers such as tremors, earthquakes or landslides.

SOLAR ENERGIA - Energy generates by  absorption of solar rays.

SPILLWAY - Structure of a hydroelectric plant used to discharge the excess water from the reservoirs. 

STORED ENERGY - Energy equivalent to the water stored in a reservoir above the minimum normal quota.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - Concept of development (social, economic and environmental) which aims to renew the raw material sources, maintain the ecosystem and, above all, ensure that the next generation can benefit from the Earth´s resources.

TAXONOMY - Scientific field which classifies species of living beings.

THERMAL ENERGY - Energy generation depends on the combustion of a substance.

THERMODYNAMIC PLANT - Construction which generates electrical energy through a process which depends on material combustion.

UPSTREAM - Region of the river above the plant.

VECTORS (MOSQUITOS) - Intermediary host of agents which cause infections and infestations such as the Aedes aegypti mosquito which transmits the dengue virus or the Anopheles which transmits the protozoan infection of malaria.

VOLT - The basic unit of electric tension (difference of electric power between one point and another from a current).

WATT - The basic unit of electrical energy power.

WIND ENERGY - Energy generated  by using the force of the wind.

WIND POWER - Construction which transforms kinetic energy from the movement of the winds into electrical energy.