The Brazilian Rural Society (SRB) issued a statement expressing support for the decision of the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, to maintain discounts for companies and consumers that use solar energy in Brazil. Bolsonaro assured last Tuesday (07) that taxation is ruled out, but the final decision will only be taken on the 21st, the date of the next board meeting of Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency).
For the entity, the so-called “sun tax”, proposed by the regulatory agency, represents additional costs for producers and discourages investments in clean energy generation on rural properties.
Homes and companies with solar panels fall into the Distributed Generation (DG) modality of energy production. The current standard provides that consumers of this modality can transfer the surplus energy produced to the general system, receiving it as a credit. In this case, the DG consumer does not pay the cost of the energy transmission network to the distributor. Aneel's proposal foresees the end of this exemption. “The discount is an incentive for the sector to concentrate the use of most electrical equipment during times of lower energy consumption and, therefore, reduce demand at peak times”, explains Marcelo Vieira, president of SRB.
According to the entity, most rural producers in Brazil invest in sustainable and alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass and forestry waste, to guarantee the supply of properties. These investments were made possible in 2012, when Aneel launched regulations that allowed consumers to generate their own energy. “Many producers have difficulty accessing the electricity distribution network, which makes alternative generation even more important”, highlights Vieira.
For SRB, the approval of the new proposal makes the implementation of energy generation systems unfeasible, as the period to recover the amount invested in the facilities will be even longer. The entity also recalls that increasing the share of sustainable bioenergy in the energy matrix is one of the commitments made by Brazil during the Paris Agreement in 2015.
SRB highlights that electricity costs for agribusiness are high and correspond to a significant portion of production investments. “Generating your own energy is an alternative to lower costs and make producers less dependent on traditional supplies”, adds Vieira.
Solar energy is increasingly present on rural properties. In the first half of 2019 alone, 32,963kWp were produced, which represents around 86% of the total generated throughout the year in 2018. The data is from Aneel itself. According to the entity, the Brazilian energy matrix is already one of the cleanest among large economies. “We are committed to doubling the production of biofuels and quintupling the production of bioenergy, we need regulatory agencies to be in line with this thinking”, concludes Vieira.
