Abstract
This article deals with the history of the first Hydroelectric Power Plant in Latin America, The “Marmelos Hydroelectric Power Station”, also known as “Marmelo Zero”, which belonged to a pioneer Brazilian electrical company, the “Companhia Mineira de Eletricidade”. Although “Marmelo Zero” today is in fact a museum, it is part of the Marmelos hydroelectric power stations complex, in which one (Marmelos 2) is still operational and connected to the Brazilian Electrical Power Plants System as a “PCH” (Small Electrical Station). The “PCH” is a category of electrical power plants encouraged by the Brazilian government’s policies and legislation. Those who are in favor of this energy supply model argue that the “PCHs” are less aggressive to the natural environment and less expensive to build. Wether or not this model is, in fact, economically and environmentally self-sustainable, is a main concern in our analysis of this pioneer experience in Brazil. The authors are all members of a multidisciplinary research team (historians and engineers) working at the Laboratory for New Technologies in Teaching Engineering (Laboratório de Novas Tecnologias para o Ensino de Engenharia – LANTEG/DEE) and in the Institute of Economics, both within the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). This team is also a research group, registered at the National Research Council (CNPq), specialized in studying electricity during the “Belle Époque” (1870-1914).