1 – Economic, Social & Environmental Issues



1 – Economic, Social & Environmental Issues

Evaluation of Sustainability in the Brazilian Wind Power Enterprise

Neilton Fidelis da Silva, Maria Regina Araújo, Luiz Pinguelli Rosa

Instituto Virtual Internacional de Mudanças Globais – IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ

Centro de Tecnologia (CT) Bloco I-2000, térreo, Módulo 1, Sala I-129

Cidade Universitária - Ilha do Fundão - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - CEP 21945-970

e-mail: neilton@ivig.coppe.ufrj.br

The Brazilian power sector services 41 million consumers through an installed park of 75 GW, of which 80% is hydro-based, with nuclear and thermo-power accounting for the remaining 20%. A determining factor in Brazil’s power planning consists of increasingly pressing needs to expand supplies, as the average per capita consumption falls below the global average, imposing an annual growth of 5%, even over periods when economic growth lags.

The current institutional environment of the electric sector, guided to the opening market and the paradoxical constraints imposed by a power supply crisis prompted investors to look with more interest at Brazil’s ample wind power potential. In addition, the environmental appeals applied worldwide persuaded the Brazilian government to establish an institutional framework encouraging the use of technologies based on renewable sources of energy. Although wind power is moving more towards the center stage among the list of renewable resources offered in Brazil, much still remains to be defined, with countless constraints and incentives in Brazilian law resulting in blurred definitions that are leading investors to call for firm and long-lasting regulations.

As a result of these politics, several wind energy projects are in study, reaching a forecasted installed capacity of 6 GW until 2007.

To implement all the wind power projects in course, it is requested studies approaching the sustainability in the dimensions: environmental, social, economic and technological, observing the social justness, the economic growth, the technological innovation and the environmental protection.

This article aims to present the results of the sustainability evaluation of one wind power project in course. The methodology used in the study entitled "Criteria and Indicators for Appraising Clean Development Mechanism Projects" by Emílio Lèbre La Rovere and Steve Thorne, elaborated to support the argument in the 5th conference of the Parts of the Convention of the Climate. The Sustainability Evaluation methodology use 4 (four) indicators of merit (environmental; social; economic and technological) and two operational indicators (possibility of regional integration and articulation with other sectors) allowing, therefore, to identify and present the contribution of the project for a distribution of resources for local regional and global present and future generations balanced.

Neilton Fidelis da Silva

Engineer Electrical - Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte - Brazil

Master in Electric Engineering - Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte - Brazil

Specialist in Economy and Energy Planning - Institute of Energy Economy/Fundação Barilhoche - Argentina

DSc. (in course) Energy Planning Program - COPPE/ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - Advisor DSc. Luiz Pinguelli Rosa.

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