Master

Abstract

Brazil has made progress in expanding and diversifying its electricity mix through renewable sources, especially wind and solar photovoltaics, with particular emphasis on the Northeast region. Within the institutional framework of the national electricity sector, energy commercialization takes place in two distinct environments: the Free Contracting Environment (ACL) and the Regulated Contracting Environment (ACR). The ACL benefits from tax and fiscal incentives that result in lower prices for consumers operating within it, compared to those applied in the ACR. With the aim of analyzing the destination of electricity generated from renewable sources, this article investigates, based on a specific methodological approach, data on the commercialization of wind energy in the municipality of Serra do Mel, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The results indicate that, of the 1,176 MW of installed capacity corresponding to 360 wind turbines in operation in the municipality, approximately 65.16% (766.66 MW) of the generated energy is allocated to the Free Contracting Environment, while only 34.84% (409.34 MW) is marketed in the Regulated Contracting Environment. This dynamic, which tends to be reproduced in other territories with high renewable energy potential in Brazil, contributes to the deepening of structural inequalities in the electricity sector by concentrating the economic benefits of the energy transition among large consumers. Moreover, as renewable energy sources expand in Brazil, reports of various socioenvironmental impacts have multiplied in the communities where these projects are being implemented. The article thus highlights the need to rethink commercialization mechanisms and the distribution of the costs and benefits of the energy transition from the perspective of energy and socioenvironmental justice.