The Amazon houses several households, but they face the challenge of living their daily lives without electricity. While some rely on generators, which are highly costly, the introduction of solar panels is at a slow pace. We explore the reasons why this life-changing project is at a snail’s pace.
Energy challenges in the Amazon
Despite having many NGOs advocating for the project to be fully operational and to speed up the installation process, there are challenges and the families are left to find energy alternatives.
According to Dialogue Earth, there are 80 residents in the village of Vila Limeira in the heart of this massive and historic site, but finding ways to electrify their lives is a daunting task.
In the modern day, these residents need the internet to be connected to the world, to keep cool and to ward off heat waves, they need a cold glass of water or a fan but how do they source energy?
It is reported that while the area has been in existence for decades since the 1950s, the residents only saw electricity recently.
However, it didn’t come cheap as they had to fork out 2,000 reais (US$428) for 300 liters of diesel because the energy was supplied through a generator for one month. Placed along the river in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, the area saw the introduction of solar panels in 2021.
The project managed to electrify 35 buildings including houses for 24 hours a day through a small solar plant, but these people remain forgotten and isolated. Vila Limeira is among 251 places that are in the dark in the South American nation.
These villagers are not supplied or connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN) which serves 95% of the country’s energy – they are desperate for an independent power supply.
“We lived in a kind of isolation. And most of the communities around us still live isolated, because even to communicate, we need energy,” said Napoleão Oliveira, president of the residents’ association.
Why hydroelectric plants can’t solve this energy problem in the Amazon
According to the report filed by Monica Prestes, the energy from the various large hydroelectric plants built on Amazonian rivers in the past decade has not been used to supply the region, but instead distributed throughout the country.
To one conservation guru Alessandra Mathyas tasked with this project in Vila Limeira: “This energy is more expensive and polluting.”
In addition, places such as the states of Amazonas, Pará, Acre, Rondônia and Roraima lack the infrastructure to be connected to the national system, meaning 90% of power in these places is sourced through diesel.
Because air pollution is regarded as a contributor to climate change, this points out the need for the installation of solar panels.
Solar installation in Amazon: what’s slowing it down
There are organisations such as the Luz para Todos (Light for All) which was established in 2003. As one of its milestones, it has managed to bring power to 14 million people in the country but some communities remain neglected.
The Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEMA) documented this information and this is the reason why the most recent phase is now targeting the Amazon. However, it is not moving according to the projected pace.
Considering the dire need for solar energy supply, the publication has it that a company was tasked with installing solar panels by the government, and it is advancing, but why is it slow?
“The policy is good. The implementation is something else. The numbers are still almost insignificant. The programme is not taking off as it should,” said Ciro Campos, a consultant at the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), a Brazilian rights organisation.
At the same time, a researcher in photovoltaics at a public university in Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, Davi Gabriel Lopes believes that the maintenance challenges of solar panels are another obstacle.
“We have an energy security problem, a political problem and also an economic problem for the advance of photovoltaic solar energy in the Amazon,” says Lopes.
Campos also argues there is a need to find different sources of power considering the fact that weather or climate changes mean the panels cannot supply the energy as anticipated. He singles out weather conditions when there “is no sun or wind, there is no energy production.”
Until there is a solution between political leaders, energy providers and the economic sector – it seems the Amazon will still remain isolated.