Edson Schiavotelo

The construction of a hydroelectric dam on the river Pelotas, between the towns of Anita Garibaldi (Santa Catarina) and Pinhal da Serra (RS), was the reason that motivated the companies Alcoa Aluminio SA, Camargo Correa Cements S / A, Company Brasileira de Aluminio, Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz (Generation) and DME Energética Ltda. to form BAESA (Energética Barra Grande SA) on September 27, 2001. Besides the objective of generating power, the reality showed that, in parallel, are being generated jobs, income, opportunities, quality of life, motivation, perspective and hope. The Barra Grande Hydroelectric impressive. Whether for its grandeur, the perfect harmony between the structures, the genius of its logistics or the difficulty of building a site with huge dimensions, the fact is that the project arouses admiration. And even before such a finding, it can be said that the hardest work is not building the plant, but the realization of environmental projects, whose implementation requires more than technical knowledge, talent, discipline and persistence. The implementation of these projects, all under the responsibility of the enterprise, it is necessary to add transparency to carry them out, ability to handle contingencies, sensitivity to understand the requirements, respect for living with people and humility to recognize possible mistakes. And it is the commitment to environmental projects, which gave importance to the enterprise. Activities were developed that were from the relocation of families to the rescue and management of wild fauna and flora, including works and services infrastructure in the cities, the revitalization of neighboring communities, environmental education, monitoring of water quality of river basin Pelotas recovery and preservation of historical heritage, cultural, scenic and archaeological, forestry and others. There are 26 projects designed to promote, effectively, the local socioeconomic development, environmental preservation and redemption of history and culture of the region. The fulfillment of these projects provides remarkable facts and records. There is no longer proud to deliver a home to a family that never had his own, to develop a project that rescued memory and legacy of a people. And finally, the satisfaction in knowing that will be planted one million saplings of native trees in the region, ensuring the enhancement of the environment.