The Chamber of Deputies approved, this Tuesday (19), the basic text of the project that creates the Paten (Energy Transition Acceleration Program), including the possibility of using money from court orders and also covering the natural gas sector , which has a great environmental impact, and the PCH (Small Hydroelectric Plants).
The text, reported by deputy Marussa Boldrin (MDB-GO), can still be changed through highlights, which must be voted on on Wednesday (20). The project then goes through the Senate.
The project creates two new mechanisms aimed at the energy transition, the main one called the Green Fund.
According to the text approved this Tuesday, holders of credits before the Union will be able to use this amount as a guarantee to obtain financing lines, as long as they are aimed at projects with this purpose.
This list, for example, includes fees such as IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products), PIS and Cofins and, as defined in the most recent version of the text, also court orders – a topic that generated resistance during the text’s processing.
One of the arguments was that this possibility could generate legal uncertainty, as the topic is under debate in the STF (Supreme Federal Court). Government members also resisted the idea.
The person who will manage the Green Fund, according to the proposal, is the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).
Another possibility created by the project is the use of amounts from tax transactions – amounts from agreements signed by the taxpayer to settle debts with the Union – to obtain credit lines aimed at the energy transition.
With reservation, technicians and parliamentarians cite the figure of R$800 billion as the maximum potential that Paten can reach in terms of financing, but no study was presented that proved this amount.
Opponents of the proposal say, also in the face of anonymity, that the use of credits with the Union benefits richer companies, which tend to have more amounts to receive.
Thus, the program would end up not contributing to the emergence of new initiatives.
The text defines that projects that can be financed by the program are related to sustainable energy and “provide socio-environmental benefits or mitigate impacts on the environment”.
In one of the latest versions of the text, however, the range considered within this scope was expanded. The natural gas sector was included, as well as hydroelectric plants up to 50 MW (megawatt) – the so-called Small Hydroelectric Plants.
Previously, the text provided for the financing of projects for the development and production of “renewable fuels”. To this section, the phrase “and low carbon” was added, which also expands the possibilities of applicability of the mechanism.
For Paten, programs aimed at the following technologies will also be considered: ethanol, aviation biokerosene, biodiesel, biomethane, biogas, green hydrogen, energy with carbon capture, solar and wind energy.
Initiatives aimed at replacing polluting energy sources with renewable sources or decarbonizing means of transport may also be considered.
During the processing of the text, an attempt was made to include electric cars in the list of topics covered by the program and also to restrict the area of ethanol to second generation fuel – which has an even smaller carbon footprint. Neither change was included in the latest version of the text.
Paten’s control and governance mechanisms must be defined by regulation.
According to the text, Paten’s objectives are to “encourage the financing of sustainable development projects”, “bring together financing institutions” that have this focus and “promote the generation and efficient use of low-carbon energy”.
This Tuesday, the rapporteur also accepted an amendment from deputy Elmar Nascimento (União-BA) to include electric batteries in the Semiconductor Industry Technological Development Support Program.
Read more (03/19/2024 – 10:21 pm)
Source: Folha
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