Even though it generates renewable energy for the rest of Brazil, the Amazon region has almost a million people living without electricity - families, most of them in isolated communities, disconnected from transmission networks. They need generators and fossil fuels, such as diesel, to have basic access to this resource.
Researchers, politicians and the electricity sector are thinking about solutions to tackle these adversities in light of the region's grandeur: they need to be faced precisely because access to electricity is everyone's right. Among these possible solutions, is the complementation of supply between several other existing clean sources - such as energy generated by winds, sunlight and also by trees – biodiesel for example.
Faced with the environmental challenges that the planet is currently experiencing and the region constantly lying in the heart of debates, the issue of electrical energy is urgent as a mandatory point to be discussed: after all, the Amazon cannot be hostage to polluting energy sources and needs commitment to serve its own population offering access to electricity - or the right to turn on a switch to see their own home.
Data from the Instituto de Energia e Meio Ambiente (Iema) [Institute of Energy and Environment] estimate that in the Brazilian Amazon region, 212,791 residents of rural settlements, 78,388 indigenous people, 59,106 people in conservation units and 2,555 quilombolas live in the dark. The survey was carried out using a georeferenced methodology, created especially to estimate and monitor access to electricity. 3.5% of the Amazon population is in the dark, according to this study.
Among the states that make up the region, Acre, Rondônia, Pará and Roraima have, proportionally, the highest percentages of people in the dark. In terms of quantity, the highest percentages are from Pará, mainly in the region of the Marajó archipelago - which also has the worst Human Development Indexes (HDI) in the country. Of the ten cities with the most people in the dark, seven are from the State of Pará: Breves , Portel, Curralinho, Melgaço, Ponta de Pedras, Limoeiro do Ajuru and Bagre. Only Limoeiro do Ajuru does not make up the archipelago.
CONTRADICTION
The international climate policy research group, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), estimates that the Amazon is responsible for more than 27% of the electricity generated in Brazil, housing four of the five main hydroelectric plants - Belo Monte (PA), Tucuruí (PA), Jirau (RO) and Santo Antônio (RO). But, on the other hand, the region consumes only 11% of the total generated in the country.
Data also shows that between 2012 and 2021 electrical generation in the region more than doubled, while in states outside the Amazon production increased by just 2%. “It is clear, therefore, that the increase in electricity generation potential in the Legal Amazon is not being used to serve the local population. Even though the region is an energy exporter, more than 14% of its population does not have access to this energy generated in the Sistema Interligado Nacional (SIN) [National Interconnected System] - a system of production and transmission of electrical energy, which connects plants to consumers”, points out the CPI report.
The survey shows that three million people in the region are still supplied only by local plants, such as thermoelectric plants, and fossil fuels, mainly diesel. Reality imposes on them access to energy limited to a few hours a day - and non-renewable energy.
The federal government says that there are around 500,000 consumer units without access to electricity in the Legal Amazon, including homes and schools. This data means that, according to the government, energy is the most universal public service, reaching 99.8% of consumer units. However, the region still faces difficulties involving isolated communities and barriers to generating their own energy, which makes the situation even more complex.
'The tariff is analyzed by the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (Aneel), and the concessionaire needs to justify the reason for any increase or differentiated energy. Pará is a state with many adversities, very different from other states in Brazil, including within the Amazon itself.
‘We have consumers spread throughout the entire state, many of them are in hard-to-reach areas. Often, the electricity sector has to even cross indigenous lands, deal with environmental conditions at certain times of the year; all of these factors are part of the attributes faced by the concessionaire. These issues determine the time and frequency of responses in cases of interruptions, for example.'"
At UFPA, Ceamazon is developing a solar-powered electric bus project. The idea is also to create an electric boat fully developed in the university.
“It is essential that the energy generation is based not only on biodiesel, but on a hybrid system. This will provide more quality and feasibility to isolated systems. But who will generate this energy? What we are observing is that communities can indeed be self-sufficient and produce their own energy. It's the so-called 'prosumer,' who can even be in the most isolated communities in the country, such as in the Amazon.”
In Pará, Equatorial Energia develops the federal government's program for the universalization of energy from renewable sources. The program provides electrical connections in remote communities, using solar energy. By the end of 2022, almost 15 thousand families had benefited from the project. The plan for this year was approximately 21 thousand connections, with a planned investment of more than R$1 billion.
The challenge of ensuring quality and energy efficiency impacts tariffs.
Professor and researcher Maria Emília Tostes coordinates the Centro de Excelência em Eficiência Energética da Amazônia (Ceamazon) [Center of Excellence in Energy Efficiency of the Amazon] - a multidisciplinary laboratory at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), located in the Guamá Science and Technology Park in Belém. 'It is a set of laboratories that goes beyond the educational aspect involving energy, but seeks technologies to spend less energy and more efficiently. We work from industrial systems to small businesses and residences - always envisioning how these consumer units can improve the use of electrical energy.'"
One of the Ceamazon laboratories that the professor coordinates is “Electrical Energy Quality”. “It analyzes the quality that reaches the final consumer, that is, it proposes mitigating measures for this, since electrical energy is everyone's right and each installation does not receive pure energy because of the various loads and events on the network that can modify everything. The concessionaire needs to be prepared to operate on these changes”, says Maria Emília Tostes. It is in this field that the laboratory develops its studies.
“We now have several distributed energy resources and the electrical net is changing. Previously, consumers only received electricity. Nowadays, they can generate their own electrical energy and also sell it. So, we are starting, especially on an international level, to think about this change in behavior that involves the consumer, not just as a consumer. Working on this requires a lot of research”, says the Ceamazon coordinator.
“However, how to ensure that a nearly continental state like Pará has quality energy? Tostes explains that the state, although a major energy producer, is also a significant consumer and has one of the highest energy tariffs in the country. 'The tariff is analyzed by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), and the concessionaire needs to justify the reason for any increase or differentiated energy. Pará is a state with many adversities, very different from other states in Brazil, including within the Amazon itself. We have consumers spread throughout the entire state, many of them are in hard-to-reach areas. Often, the electricity sector has to even cross indigenous lands, deal with environmental conditions at certain times of the year; all of these factors are part of the attributes faced by the concessionaire. These issues determine the time and frequency of responses in cases of interruptions, for example.'”
In the university, Ceamazon is developing an electric bus project, which uses sunlight. The idea is also to develop an electric boat created entirely in the university. “The university has been a living laboratory for electric mobility and communication so that we can evaluate the essence of these modes, know who uses them (students, teachers, employees, patients at the university hospital, etc.), in a new conception of transforming the university in a Smart City, with electric mobility and information. The idea is that these internal experiences can be designed for implementation in companies and other larger cities.
HYBRID SOURCE
As the energy “blackout” is part of the routine of many Brazilians in the Amazon, the use of diesel - which is not clean energy - ends up being the solution. Professor Maria Emília Tostes argues that the introduction of other energy sources can help minimize this problem. “Our State is very rich, it has many possibilities, such as biodiesel, which is a firm source, to complement other systems, such as solar and wind. It is necessary to think about changing the matrix to serve these consumers and, due to this moment of energy transition, a change in the way of thinking in relation to the use, production, distribution and delivery of this energy. To achieve this, it is necessary to advance research in the region to expand our potential.”
“It is necessary for generation to be based not only on biodiesel, but on a hybrid system. This will give more quality and viability to isolated systems. But who will generate this energy? What we are seeing is that communities can be self-sufficient and produce their own energy. It is the so-called ‘prosumer’, which can even be found in the most isolated communities in the country, such as in the Amazon”, ponders the Ceamazon coordinator.
COMMUNITIES
In the state of Pará, the power provider company Equatorial Energia develops the federal government's program of renewable energy sources universalization. In other words, this means electricity available in remote communities, using solar power. According to the company, by the end of 2022, almost 15,000 families had benefited from the project. The plan for this year was approximately 21,000 connections, with an expected investment of more than R$1 billion. The figures had not yet been updated at the closing date of this report. The goal is to have approximately 154,000 electrical connections concluded by 2028, serving approximately 600,000 people.
According to Equatorial Energia, the first project, on a pilot basis, began in 2017 in the Verde Para Sempre [Green Forever] extractive reserve, located in the municipality of Porto de Moz, in Pará. There, 2,334 connections were accomplished. After this experience, the project was scaled up to reach those who needed it most - the Marajó region, focusing on riverside communities, indigenous people, quilombolas, rural settlements, conservation units, schools and health centers. In the first half of the year, actions were concentrated in Bagre and Oeiras do Pará. In the second semester, in Melgaço, Portel, Curralinho, Prainha, Porto de Moz and Tucuruí.
Equatorial Energy said that the project uses local, non-centralized and renewable energy, such as solar power, in a system made up of a metal structure, photovoltaic panels and a battery that stores energy. The bills are generated per quarter, with residential consumption of up to 60 kWh, which is around R$ 32 per bill - whenever the family is registered in Tarifa Social [Social Tariff] program for low-income consumers.
The draft law 4248/20 determines that, by 2025, all cities in the Legal Amazon should be out of the dark. Authored by deputy Airton Faleiro (PT-PA), the bill is already being processed conclusively.
The text stipulates that the government must set targets for companies to achieve, and those that fail, will not be entitled to energy tariff adjustments.
At the federal level, the National Electricity Secretariat (SNEE) of the Ministry of Mines and Energy has already indicated that the ‘Light for All’ program should be a priority and should receive R$2.5 billion in 2024 to carry out its projects.
Draft law aims to universalize access to energy
Brazilian politicians have also been discussing the access to electricity issue in the Amazon. Bill 4248/20 stipulates that, by 2025, all municipalities in the Legal Amazon must have access to electricity. Authored by deputy Airton Faleiro (PT-PA), the Bill is already being processed conclusively and must be analyzed by the Comissões de Minas e Energia, Finanças e Tributação e de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania (CCJ) [Committees for Mines and Energy, Finance and Taxation, Constitution and Justice and Citizenship] in the Federal Congress in Brasilia, where it has already received a favorable opinion. The proposal is to implement an execution plan drawn up by Aneel to guarantee the essential service of electricity supply to populations that still don't have access to it.
The text stipulates that the government must set targets for companies to achieve, and those that fail, will not be entitled to energy tariff adjustments. Other points of the bill stipulate that the costs of implementation must be financed by the Conta de Desenvolvimento Energético (CDE) [Energy Development Account], present in Brazilians' electricity bills, and from which the federal government can allocate up to R$6 billion to cover the costs of contracting and implementing renewable energy generation systems, such as solar and wind power. The bill also provides for priority to be given to the most remote communities.
At the federal level, the National Electricity Secretariat (SNEE) of the Ministry of Mines and Energy has already indicated that the Light for All program should be a priority and should receive R$2.5 billion in 2024 to carry out its projects.
The secretariat's special advisor, Igor Ribeiro, says that the federal government faces this problem resolution as a "historic debt" being solved. "We are committed to accelerating universal access to electricity in Brazil." Ribeiro also announced that the government's program is in the process of signing terms of commitment with distributors, such as Equatorial Energia, to enable around 120,000 power connections by 2025.
