The Amazon is a delicate ecosystem that has global-scale environmental and climatologicalimpact, and is at risk of overdevelopment, over-modification and destruction. Issues associated with the installation and operation of traditional reservoir-dam systems in the Amazon are examined, and it is suggested to supplement the current Brazilian energy portfolio and replace future dam plans with hybrid in-stream generator and photovoltaic systems to provide for distributed renewable microgrids as well as on-grid power needs. These systems can be installed at various scales, from a single-household off-grid implementation, up through and including offsetting or replacing current and future planned large-scale dams for on-grid use. This solution offers a socially and environmentally safer alternative to dams, by reducing or eliminating several issues with reservoir-based dams: deforestation for reservoirs, flooding from reservoirs, displacement of local families, inhibition of sediment and marine life transport, and greenhouse gas emissions. The financial and energetic feasibility of the proposed system is compared, including transmission costs, to several common electrification methods. Other supporting topics are also investigated, such as the fish-friendly design of in-stream devices, and the maximum reach of the proposed hybrid microgrid system relative to the in-stream deployment sites.
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