Brazil energy access program expected to require 15mn PV modules

Brazil’s program for universal access to and use of electricity, dubbed Luz para Todos, will require up to 15 million photovoltaic modules, batteries and inverters at a cost of 38 billion reais (US$7.4bn) by 2028, according to a study by local energy and environment NGO IEMA.

Focusing on remote communities in the Amazon region, the research showed that access to solar energy could be less expensive for people who are currently served by oil-based generators or don’t have electricity at all. 

"If the economic direction of public policy acted on the capital cost of the systems, the price of electricity from these systems could be lower than the price of energy charged by local distributors. This action, added to the already existing social electricity rate, could alleviate energy poverty," said Vinícius Oliveira, one of the authors of the study and project leader at IEMA, in a press release. 

According to the study, the levelized cost of energy – the cost of installation, operation and decommissioning related to the electricity generated during the systems’ useful life – of photovoltaic systems varies between 477 reais/MWh and 1,189 reais/MWh. 

The research warns that between 58,000t and 234,000t of electronic waste would be generated over 33 years and that the Amazon lacks adequate infrastructure to manage this waste. 

But the researchers found that diversification of renewable energy sources could reduce the waste generated by photovoltaic equipment and spur development of a chain of services in the regions that would gain access to electricity.

BACKGROUND

By November 11, 2023, the Luz para Todos program’s 20th anniversary, it had reached 3.6mn homes and benefited 17.2mn people, according to the government.

The program also covers rural areas in various states.

At the end of June, the mines and energy ministry launched the Luz Para Todos Minha Casa Minha Vida program, which will bring renewable energy to the homes covered by the Minha Casa Minha Vida housing program. 

Some 3bn reais will be invested in the project, which involves installing photovoltaic panels in 500,000 consumer units across the country.

Minas Gerais will be included in the first phase of the program, benefiting around 16,000 families in 40 municipalities.

In early July, mines and energy minister Alexandre Silveira signed a term of commitment for the Luz para Todos program in Bahia state. 

The agreement provides for more than 29,000 electricity connections over the next two years, with an approximate investment of 1.5bn reais and more than 10,000 works to be carried out in the state. 

The new stage aims to assist 118,000 people from low-income and racial minority communities.