A 50 kWp solar microgrid with 165 kWh of battery storage is replacing unreliable diesel generation at a remote community in Brazil’s Amazonas state, enabling local acaí processing and income generation.
A solar-plus-storage microgrid is enabling a remote community in Brazil’s Amazonas state to start operating an açaí processing facility that had been planned for almost a decade. Installed in the Bela Conquista community in the Catuá-Ipixuna Extractive Reserve in Tefé, the system has 50 kWp of PV capacity and 165 kWh of battery storage.
The initiative is part of the Luz na Floresta project, developed by the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). The project aims to demonstrate how reliable electricity access can support economic activity in isolated Amazon communities.
Before the microgrid was installed, the processing facility relied on diesel generation that was insufficient and intermittent. Power supply limitations contributed to production losses and restricted the volume of fruit that could be processed locally.
The new infrastructure is expected to enable the facility to process up to 36,000 liters of açaí per year, allowing the community to add value to local production and increase household income.
Daniel Gama, a Bela Conquista resident and president of the processing facility project, said unreliable electricity had been the main obstacle to starting operations. Problems with the existing distribution line meant the facility did not receive enough electricity to operate all its machinery.
Luciana Sena, a community resident and deputy secretary of the açaí processing facility, said reliable electricity would reduce production losses and allow the facility to buy and process more locally produced fruit, increasing family incomes.
In addition to the processing facility, the microgrid supplies electricity to essential community infrastructure, including a school, community center, community kitchen and water supply well.
The project combines electrification with productive use of energy, a model that could be relevant in locations where conventional grid expansion presents logistical and economic challenges.
The project also includes training residents to manage, operate and maintain the systems, with responsibility for the installed assets to be transferred to the communities.
Thiago Carvalho, FAS renewable projects leader, said residents would receive training covering the management, operation and maintenance of the systems and would be responsible for those activities.
The Global Energy Alliance said the initiative aims to demonstrate how electrification can support economic development while improving energy access. Luisa Valentim, the organization’s Brazil director, said it aims to use energy to create conditions for communities to remain in their territories while generating income and supporting Amazon forest conservation.
Pilot projects
Bela Conquista is the first practical demonstration of a model that the organizations plan to replicate through up to 20 pilot projects over the next two to three years, reaching as many as 25 communities in the Brazilian Amazon.
Planned applications include bioeconomy activities such as açaí production and processing, fishing, agriculture and fruit processing.
The program estimates that the solar-plus-storage systems could generate up to 1 GWh of solar electricity annually, avoiding the consumption of approximately 255,000 liters of diesel and 680 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
The initiative aims to benefit more than 600 families while generating data and experience that could inform public policies for electrification and productive energy use in remote areas.
The communities involved include the Serra da Moça Indigenous Territory in Boa Vista, Roraima; Nossa Senhora do Livramento (Uixi) in the Piagaçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve in Beruri, Amazonas; Bela Conquista in Tefé; the Tamaniquá community in the Middle Solimões region; and Santa Maria do Boiaçu, Cachoeirinha and Caicubi in the Lower Rio Branco region of Roraima.
In the communities served, the project aims to achieve 80% energy availability and more than triple revenue from acaí production.
For Bela Conquista residents, reliable electricity could also expand economic activities based on products already available in the forest, reducing the need to clear land for agriculture or livestock.
Community leader Luzia Pinto said the community hopes to reduce deforestation for planting and livestock while becoming more reliant on extractive activities that make use of existing forest resources.
The model is particularly relevant to the challenge of expanding electricity access across the Amazon, where long distances, dispersed populations and difficult terrain make conventional infrastructure expansion challenging.
The Bela Conquista project places productive energy use at the center of the initiative. In addition to providing electricity, solar-plus-storage systems can enable communities to use that power for activities that generate local income.
FAS General Superintendent Virgilio Viana said Bela Conquista demonstrates that the model can be replicated and that the main challenge is to multiply similar projects.
From pv magazine Brazil
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