Rios de Diesel na Amazônia Legal: Por que a Região com as Maiores Hidrelétricas do País Depende de Combustível Caro e Poluente?

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative examines the energy paradox in the Brazilian Legal Amazon, where the region hosts some of the country's largest hydroelectric plants yet millions of residents rely on expensive, polluting diesel-based isolated systems or lack electricity entirely. The document analyzes the socio-economic disparities between connected and isolated municipalities, the financial burden of fuel subsidies, and the barriers to transitioning toward renewable energy sources.

• The Legal Amazon is a major energy exporter for Brazil, accounting for over 26% of national electricity generation in 2020 while consuming only 8% of that total. Despite this, more than 14% of the region's population lacks access to the National Interconnected System (SIN).
• Approximately 3 million people in the Legal Amazon are served by 'Isolated Systems' (Sistemas Isolados), which are local power plants not connected to the SIN. These systems are overwhelmingly dependent on diesel, with 97% of the installed capacity in 2018 consisting of diesel-powered thermoelectric plants.
• Nearly 1 million people in the Legal Amazon lack perennial access to electricity, often relying on small diesel or gasoline generators for only a few hours of power per day. The state of Pará has the highest absolute number of people without electricity (409,593), while Acre has the highest percentage of its population without access (10%).
• The high cost of diesel generation in Isolated Systems is subsidized by all Brazilian electricity consumers through the Fuel Consumption Account (Conta de Consumo de Combustíveis - CCC). In 2022, the estimated value of the CCC exceeded R$ 10 billion, representing a per capita subsidy of over R$ 3,000 for each inhabitant of an Isolated System.
• Municipalities with Isolated Systems exhibit significantly worse socio-economic indicators compared to connected municipalities in the Legal Amazon. These disparities include lower Municipal Human Development Index (IDHM) scores across education, longevity, and income, lower GDP per capita, higher unemployment, and higher illiteracy rates.
• Renewable energy sources struggle to compete in the current auction model for Isolated Systems due to high initial acquisition costs, exchange rate volatility, and a lack of valuation for environmental criteria. For example, while solar and battery systems have higher initial costs than diesel, their 25-year operational cost is significantly lower (R$ 4.4 million vs R$ 2.3 billion in a hypothetical 18MW demand scenario).
• The 'Mais Luz para a Amazônia' program, created in February 2020 to provide renewable energy to remote families, is criticized for lacking objective goals, transparent prioritization criteria, effective oversight, and penalties for non-compliance by distributors.

APA

Schutze, A., Bines, L., & Assunção, J. (2022). Rios de Diesel na Amazônia Legal: Por que a Região com as Maiores Hidrelétricas do País Depende de Combustível Caro e Poluente? Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Rios-de-Diesel-na-Amazonia-Legal.pdf

Chicago

Schutze, Amanda, Luiz Bines, and Juliano Assunção. Rios de Diesel na Amazônia Legal: Por que a Região com as Maiores Hidrelétricas do País Depende de Combustível Caro e Poluente? Climate Policy Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Rios-de-Diesel-na-Amazonia-Legal.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schutze |first1=Amanda |last2=Bines |first2=Luiz |last3=Assunção |first3=Juliano |title=Rios de Diesel na Amazônia Legal: Por que a Região com as Maiores Hidrelétricas do País Depende de Combustível Caro e Poluente? |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=June 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Rios-de-Diesel-na-Amazonia-Legal.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schutze2022rios, author = {Schutze, Amanda and Bines, Luiz and Assunção, Juliano}, title = {{Rios de Diesel na Amazônia Legal: Por que a Região com as Maiores Hidrelétricas do País Depende de Combustível Caro e Poluente?}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Rios-de-Diesel-na-Amazonia-Legal.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }