Economy with solar energy is a new competitor of diesel in Roraima

The technicians were on the roof of the SexMotel, installing the photovoltaic panels, and the administrator, Silvio Neves de Almeida, was explaining. “Solar energy is a matter of economy. Here, a lot is spent on air conditioning, with a washing machine to keep the sheets clean. There was no way to change it. But I needed to lower the electricity bill, which is between R$ 8,000 and BRL 9,000 per month.”

In Boa Vista, capital of Roraima, it has been like this. Whether in motels, hotels, supermarkets, restaurants, public agencies and homes, solar systems are taking over the roofs following the reasoning of distributed generation. Companies and families install the systems, share the energy generated with the distributor and reduce the difference between their consumption and the energy transferred, to reduce expenses.

The use of solar energy advances in the world, but its growth in Roraima has a particular meaning. In this state, 79% of energy comes from thermal plants powered by fossil fuels, and clean sources account for 21%.

This proportion is contrary to the rest of Brazil, where 80% of energy comes from clean sources (hydro, wind, solar and biomass). Thermal plants with diesel, gas and coal are 6% of the national matrix.

“Each solar system installed by the consumer in Roraima is a cost avoided in the purchase of energy generated by fossil sources, such as diesel”, says Conceição Escobar, president of Abee-RR (Brazilian Association of Electrical Engineers of Roraima), which participates in the movements in favor of sustainable energy in the state.

This detachment in relation to the rest of the country occurs because Roraima has no electrical connection with the other parts of Brazil. Boa Vista is the only disconnected capital.

There are numerous versions of the difficulty of building a transmission line connecting the south of the state to the national system. For almost two decades, the supply was made with energy from Venezuela, through the Guri-Macagua transmission line, to the north.

However, the supply was suspended in March 2019, when Roraima started to depend only on thermal plants. Generation is done with diesel and, more recently, gas. The high financial and environmental costs are shared with all Brazilians.

In 1973, the CCC (Fuel Consumption Account) was created for this very purpose. It collects contributions from all Brazilians for the payment. The charge is made on the electricity bill, mainly for residents of the Southeast, South and Midwest. In other words, Brazilians subsidize energy in Roraima and other states with isolated areas (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Pernambuco and Rondônia).

The national electrical system has advanced, the world is migrating to clean energy, but the fuel bill for the isolated system in Brazil remains high. This year, R$ 12 billion are planned, equivalent to 37% of all subsidies transferred to the electricity bill.

The largest share goes to the state of Amazonas, 76%. Roraima is second on the list, with a forecast of receiving 10% in the year. In July, however, 15% of the CCC’s resources went to the state.

Precisely because of the subsidy, the energy tariff in Roraima is among the four cheapest in Brazil, in comparison with the 26 states and the Federal District. However, residents’ expenditure on energy is heavy, for local reasons.

“Air conditioning is the main problem, because it needs to be on practically all the time”, explains Norry Rabelo, a partner at Donzol, one of the oldest companies to install solar plants. The electricity bill for a middle-class home can range from R$800 to R$1,000, due to refrigeration.

The issue of savings on the bill is so pressing that there are few projects with battery so that the consumer can use their production overnight. After sunset, energy is fully supplied by the local distributor.

There are three reasons that motivate an investment in solar generation, according to research by Absolar (Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy).

The first is the pocket, the investor seeks savings with the electricity bill. The second is autonomy, as having a mini solar plant allows you to manage expenses. Concern for the environment, for the reduction of greenhouse gases, is the third factor.

In the last ten years, the average price of solar generation equipment has dropped by 86%. According to Rabelo, this reduction was essential to boost sales in the last two years in Boa Vista.

“In the beginning, it was just the homes that bought the systems. Now there are more homes, but also companies are coming in.” Gavião, for example, one of the largest supermarket chains in the city, installed a system with almost 2,000 panels on the roof of its largest store.

There is still a strong movement in the public sector. In July, the State Court of Justice inaugurated its first photovoltaic plant, installed in a court building in the municipality of Mucajaí, but the generation will also contribute to the economy of the headquarters in Boa Vista. The project will save R$ 2 million per year.

Justice will build another six plants. “All administrative buildings, in all regions, will contribute to the energy transition”, said judge Cristóvão Suter, president of the TJ-RR.

A plant is also being implemented at UFRR (Federal University of Roraima), with 1,116 photovoltaic panels on a surface of 2,300 m^two. On campus, however, in addition to reducing costs, the discussion about energy has academic contours.

According to Josiane Rodrigues, professor of the electrical engineering course, it is possible to take advantage of the equipment so that teachers and students can research photovoltaic production in an equatorial region.

Last year, the campus installed a small system and has already started some investigations. One of the works was dedicated to the radiance sensor, equipment that monitors the ability of the sun to burn the plates. On the market, it usually costs around R$ 2,500. Some reach R$ 10 thousand. But students Igor Aguiar, 22, and Lucas Sousa, 21, developed the foundations for a sensor that could cost BRL 500 in their course conclusion work.

The most active body in the state, however, is the Municipality of Boa Vista, which spread solar systems throughout the city. In addition to a plant on the outskirts of the capital, there is generation equipment at the Luiz Canuto Chaves Bus Terminal, at the São Francisco Municipal Market, Municipal Theater, as well as at Palácio 9 de Julho, the city hall, and at the Municipal Department of Public Services and Environment.

The city administration even installed mini-plants in 74 bus shelters for air conditioning. The plates, however, began to be stolen and had to be removed. They were relocated to the roof of the parking lot of the Secretary of the Environment.

According to Daniel Peixoto, secretary of the portfolio, solar energy projects generate enough credits for the city hall to save R$ 5 million per year. This conduct by the government, he says, also serves as an example for the citizens of the capital.

“Many individuals have adopted solar energy because of city hall projects”, says Peixoto.

Solar generation in Roraima also gained momentum as a result of a convincing effort led by the Forum of Renewable Energy and by one of its creators, engineer Alexandre Henklain, former Secretary of Planning and Development of the state.

Enthusiastic about the need to accelerate the energy transition, Henklain disseminated information about the advantages of clean energy.

“He installed a system at home and experienced the benefits as a user, but as an engineer, he used it to collect data,” says Marcelo Henklain Oliveira, professor of Computer Science at UFRR and son of Alexandre, who died in April.

Despite all this mobilization, solar energy currently represents only 1% of the matrix in Roraima.

According to Rodrigo Sauaia, president of Absolar, Roraima could expand the use of clean energy at a higher speed if federal public policy stopped favoring fossil fuels.

“The Amazon region, due to the volume of cloud cover, has less potential than the Northeast, but still far above the average of other countries that invest heavily in clean energy,” he says.

Sauaia, however, recalls that, in the most recent energy auction that would affect the state matrix, there was an increase in the use of gas, when there was room to increase the share of renewable sources.

“By emitting less than diesel, for example, gas is being promoted as a transition fuel, in countries that depend on thermal plants, but this argument does not stand in Brazil, whose matrix is ​​clean and cheaper”, he says.

“It makes no environmental and financial sense for Brazil to privilege gas, this is polluting more in our transition and raising the cost, as new technologies from cleaner sources also cost less.”

The expectation is that the debate in Brazil will be able to follow the path of other countries, such as Australia, one of the largest exporters of mineral coal in the world, says Sauaia.

Research and development of new technologies advanced rapidly there, but the supply of products to the consumer was slow due to lobbies that limited government policy. Overcoming resistance, Australia became an example. Currently, one in five homes produces solar energy.

_{The series of reports Energia na Amazônia was produced with the support of Rede Energia e Comunidades.}