The number of Brazilians willing to bet on renewable energy is growing

According to study carried out by Datafolha, and commissioned by Abraceel (Brazilian Association of Energy Traders), the number of Brazilians willing to pay a higher price to encourage the generation of electricity from renewable sources increased.

In 2020, the survey showed that 39% of consumers were willing to invest in clean energy. In 2021, this number reached close to half of the population (46%).

Among those who would pay a higher price are mostly men (16 to 24 years old), EAP (Economically Active), those who wish to generate energy at home and those who wish to choose the supplier company. It also tends to be higher among residents of the North/Mid-West.

“In the midst of the worst historical water crisis faced by the country, we can undoubtedly confirm that decentralization for electrical generation is the path to sustainable development. Allowing fairer and more transparent rules to empower consumers to produce their own energy from renewable sources will generate positive impacts on the economy, society and the environment,” said Jackson Chirollo, CEO of Edmond Tech.

According to the executive, PL 5,829 recently approved in Congress, aims, among several renewable sources, to make solar more inclusive and guarantee legal support for Brazilians who wish to generate their own energy.

Read more: PL 5829: main changes imposed by the GD Legal Framework

“Completing 10 years in April 2022, of the first normative resolution that allows small and medium-sized consumers to generate their own energy, we see that the exponential growth curve occurred in the last 4 years and reached only approximately 1%, in a universe with more of 82 million consumer units”, he added.  

Factors that increased consumer interest

For Chirollo, there are many factors that contributed to Brazilians increasingly investing in renewables, such as changes in habits during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led the population to take a closer look at various aspects of daily life. “Including spending on electricity, without disregarding the strong global movement on the agenda of actions against climate change, sensitized by individual attitudes about how it is possible to contribute in some way to a much greater purpose, our planet”. 

“Furthermore, since 2015 the energy tariff has increased by more than 100%, and in 2021 the country is experiencing the biggest water and energy crisis in the last 90 years, leading to the activation of polluting thermal plants with extremely high costs paid by end consumers, in addition to strong emissions of GHG (greenhouse gases)”, he highlighted. 

In the expert's view, “every month, week, every day, Brazilians always have good reasons and are more confident in generating their own energy from renewable sources. We ended the month of August 2021 with the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, announcing continued extra fee increases on the electricity bill in the coming months and President Bolsonaro asking the population to turn off 'a point of light in their homes' to save electricity”. 

“Without a doubt, many Brazilians will bet on their independence through their own generation and soon through battery storage. It's just a matter of time. And we have an energy disruption, following countries that have already adopted solar photovoltaics as the source of the future and the only one that allows energy democratization”, he emphasized. 

Therefore, according to Edmond's CEO, solar, due to its modularity and rapid implementation, is the only way to enable the mass adoption of own generation of electricity from a clean and sustainable source, whether in homes, businesses or any type of electricity. of establishment in large inhabited centers. 

“Thus enabling, in the medium to long term, greater independence from centralized generation due to the fact that we already have hydroelectric plants threatened by water or thermal crises with high GHG emissions. In addition to the harmful impacts on society, the environment and large losses due to distances from energy consumers”, he concluded. 

Home energy generation

Datafolha also highlighted that the desire to generate electrical energy at home, whether through solar energy or other renewable sources, remained above 90% of the population for the third consecutive year, a percentage below this index only among Brazilians aged 60 and over. more (87%), people with only primary education (87%) and people from classes C/D (88%). 

“Electricity generation through solar energy is currently necessary to diversify the Brazilian energy matrix, meet growing demand and explore more renewable sources with a view to environmental protection. In this way, small energy consumers increasingly want to use photovoltaic technology to their advantage”, said Willy Zulke, sales executive in the Energy sector at ARaymond Brasil. 

“However, these new photovoltaic installations must consider professional solutions for module fixing, cable management and grounding, aiming to increase the useful life of these systems and obtain better long-term use”, he added.

Energy price

Another point highlighted by the research is that out of every 10 Brazilians, 8 consider the price of electricity to be expensive or very expensive. Taxes are still seen as the main villain for high costs in Brazil, although they tend to reduce their role. 

In this measurement, mentions of excessive government interference and energy waste as reasons for the high cost have increased, even though taxes and lack of competition still remain the two main justifications. 

Supplier choice

Furthermore, the report indicated that Brazilians' support for the possibility of choosing the company that supplies electricity remains high (81%), being the highest percentage in the historical series. Linked to this support is the perception of the majority of the population that the price of energy tends to decrease if this occurs. 

Supplier change 

The intention to change operator in a situation of free choice also reached the highest level in the historical series, with seven in ten Brazilians indicating that they would change company if this were possible. 

Although the price continues to be the main motivator for this exchange (64%), the demand for clean energy maintained the growth trend seen in the last waves and was isolated as the second reason for the exchange with 20% in quotes. 

Energy consumption in the pandemic

For the majority of Brazilians, there was a perception of an increase in consumption and cost of electricity during the pandemic, in addition to the reduction in family income. If, on the one hand, Brazilians saw consumption increase, on the other hand, this aroused the need to try to save money to try to reduce their electricity bills.