Igniting the renewable samba spark

At the recent Rio+20 UN Conference on sustainability, Brazil was announced as among one of the most sustainable countries within the G20 group. According to a study published this year by the Brazilian Association of Finance, Administration and Accounting Executives, the Latin American nation is only behind France and the UK in terms of clean energy usage.

In Brazil, 91 percent of electric energy comes from hydropower plants, which are among the cleanest sources of energy generation. New hydropower plants are under construction in the country following a scheme of pursuing more environmentally friendly projects. One scheme envisages the removal of need for reservoirs, based on a run-of-river model, preserving Brazil’s numerous rainforests.

If we consider all energy sources, rather than only electricity, Brazil gets 45 percent of its energy matrix from renewable sources, while the world average is only 13 percent of clean energy.

Brazil is among one of the global leaders in terms of clean energy, and the Neoenergia Group is one of the best examples of the nation’s cutting-edge performance, in partnership with the Spanish company Iberdrola, the state-owned company Banco do Brasil and the pension fund of the employees of that bank, Previ.

Renewable revival
The third largest private investor in the Brazilian electrical sector, and the fortieth largest private group in the country, Neoenergia was also the first private holding in Brazil to receive the Investment Grade from Standard & Poor (BR AAA in National Scale and BBB- in Global Scale). This acknowledgement, renewed in 2012, is proof of the group’s solidity in all of its businesses: generation, distribution, transmission and commercialisation of electrical energy.

Present in 12 Brazilian states and with investments totaling R$20.4bn, the Neoenergia Group has already invested around R$2bn in the generation of clean and renewable energies, such as hydropower and wind power, in addition to the development of other sources. By 2019, the company’s projects will be responsible for the generation of 2.5 percent of Brazil’s energy, becoming one of the country’s largest private groups in the generation of electric power from renewable sources.

Preserving paradise
Neoenergia’s growth is concomitant to the Group’s investment in the reduction of socio-environmental impact. The Dardanelos Hydropower Plant, in the central-west region of Brazil, generates energy without the need of a reservoir and helps preserve the region’s natural beauty.

Another ecological paradise in Brazil, the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, is also benefitting from Neoenergia’s energy efficiency programmes. In partnership with the Brazilian Air Force, a solar power generation plant is being installed, and – in conjunction with other initiatives – will contribute towards the reduction in the consumption of 175,000 litres of B5 Biodiesel, currently used for the generation of energy on the island.

Footballing energy
Neoenergia has also invested in the generation of solar and wind energy, complementary sources that are growing fast in Brazil, contributing to the country’s sustainable development. This year, Neoenergia inaugurated the first photovoltaic solar power generation plant in Latin America inside a football stadium, the 34,000-seater Pituaçu in Salvador, Bahia.

This same technology will be adopted at the Arena Pernambuco, in the northeastern region of Brazil, one of the 2014 World Cup’s 14 host-stadiums, in partnership with Odebrecht Energia. The full R&D project, costing around R$24.5m, includes the construction of a solar panel certification laboratory and the development of electronic transformers.

Complementing sources
The Neoenergia Group is also participating in the implementation and operation of 10 wind power plants in the northeastern region of Brazil, through Força Eólica, a joint venture with Iberdrola. It relies on six energy co-generation plants, using natural gas and steam. While producing 905 tonnes of steam per hour, these plants generate 93MW of energy and save the atmosphere from 46,000 tonnes of carbon gas. Besides, four out of five small hydropower plants (SHPP) of Neoenergia Group have received the UN’s  authorisation to issue carbon credits, as they produce clean energy. Always aware of innovation, Neoenergia has already scheduled extensive studies for the generation of electric energy from biogas (generated in sewage treatment stations).

Neoenergia is also pushing the northeast of Brazil – one of the fastest growing regions in the country – to become one of the leaders in energy efficiency. The group controls the electrical energy distribution companies of three important states of the region: Coelba in Bahia, Celpe in Pernambuco, and Cosern in Rio Grande do Norte, which are among the best distributors in “service quality” of Brazil, according to the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency. These three states total 9.5 million electrical consumer units, which makes Neoenergia the largest private company of the sector in the number of clients in Brazil.

More than half of this population belongs within the low-income sector – with a monthly income lower than €124 for each person in the family. For this reason, Neoenergia has invested around €90m since 1999 in energy efficiency programmes. The main objective is to adjust these clients’ consumption to their payment capability, and contribute to the improvement of the population’s quality of life. Within this scope, one of the major projects is the Nova Geladeira (New Refrigerator) programme, which has already replaced more than 200,000 old and inefficient refrigerators with new and more economic ones certified by the Procel Energy Efficiency Seal. A refrigerator in poor working conditions can be responsible for up to 70 percent of the total energy bill of low-income families. By adjusting these consumers’ consumption to their payment capability, Neoenergia reduces the number of clandestine electric power connections and also contributes to increasing people’s quality of life by improving the level of food conservation.

The programme has already saved €91.6m, equivalent to a 50.9MW hydropower plant or to the consumption of a town with more than 110,000 inhabitants. The environmental benefits generated by the programme are also worthy of note. CFC gas – and its harmful impact on the ozone layer – is reduced from the old refrigerators and treated.

Furthermore, the new refrigerators use R600a (isobutene), an environmentally friendly gas. This means that the Neoenergia Group is already influencing the energy market by aiming to replace harmful CFC gasses with isobutene. And that is not all: the old refrigerator is recycled, the scrap metal sold and the resulting revenue is earmarked for other projects, such as the Vale Luz programme which provides discounts on the energy bills of clients that donate recyclable waste, such as glass, plastic bottles, metal, paper and other materials. Until the first quarter of this year, around 512 tonnes of solid waste had been recycled and R$35,000 in energy bill discounts had been granted.

Inspiring programmes
Neoenergia Group’s energy distribution also has an important role in one of the major social projects of the Brazilian government: the Luz para Todos (Light for All) programme, with the objective of supplying electrical energy to more than 10 million people who do not have access to this essential service. In Bahia, the state with one of the largest populations in the country, Coelba, the electric energy distributor of the Neoenergia Group, is to reach the fantastic milestone of 500,000 connections for low-income citizens. Out of these domiciles serviced, more than 20,000 are classed in extreme poverty, with per capita income lower than €28 per month.

In order to install the new electricity connections of the project, Coelba expanded Bahia’s electric network by more than 78km since 2004. This meant an investment of more than €1bn, shared by the Federal Government and Coelba, with the participation of the Government of Bahia. By 2014, Coelba is to reach the target of 588,000 connections in domiciles of the rural area of Bahia.  The three Neoenergia Group distributors together have already made 664,000 connections for the Luz para Todos programme, from the start of this year, with an investment of €1.4bn.

Forest restoration
Neoenergia is a signatory of the Global Compact and Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, and it reports all of its practices by way of GRI reports, maintaining a close and transparent relationship with all its stakeholders (communities, clients, governments, employees, suppliers).

“We are helping, together with our 5,100 direct collaborators, Brazil become an example to the world regarding sustainability in the electric energy sector”, said Solange Ribeiro, Neoenergia Group’s interim CEO in a recent interview.