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Distributed Rural Electrification in Brazil

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Rural Electrification

Abstract

At the time of this research approximately 8 million people were without electricity in Brazil. This included roughly 1.2% of urban households in 2002, but the bulk lived in rural regions, particularly in the Amazon region and the Northeast (up to 60% of rural households in some regions with a national average of 27% of rural households without electricity in 2002) (ESMAP 2005). A more recent estimate shows over 4 million still do not have electricity access (IEA 2009). It is difficult to see how Brazil, can accomplish its goals of universal service without resorting to some form of decentralized electricity production. At the same time, distributed solutions face a number of institutional barriers that have either precluded their implementation or created conditions unfavorable to their success, even when they may be the best solution from a purely technical perspective.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Importantly, this is done at no cost to the consumer. The concessionaire can charge regulated tariffs, but cannot charge for connection under Luz Para Todos.

  2. 2.

    At 3 R$/US$

  3. 3.

    Unlike other battery charging schemes, in this one the customer did not own a specific battery, but would come and exchange their battery for another one, thereby eliminating the need to come back and pick up their battery. However, different users had different usage patterns and over time battery performance began to vary widely.

  4. 4.

    Importantly, this is done at no cost to the consumer. The concessionaire can charge regulated tariffs, but cannot charge for connection under Luz Para Todos.

  5. 5.

    At 3 R$/US$

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Hisham Zerriffi

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  1. Hisham Zerriffi
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Correspondence to Hisham Zerriffi .

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Zerriffi, H. (2011). Distributed Rural Electrification in Brazil. In: Rural Electrification. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9594-7_3

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