INCOME AND ENERGY GENERATION Project for sustainable energy and income generatio n inside Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida Federal Government Housing Program Juaze iro Brazil

Summary

Designed to increase the income and stimulate the spirit of cooperativism mainly among women of the 4000 residents of two communities that are part of the MCMV Minha Casa Minha Vida Project the Income Generation and Renewable Energy Project met with the expected success The project has generated 3257 gigawatt hours GWh of electricity by means of solar panels up until March 2015 This volume is sufficient to supply 32000 households with an average consumption of 100 kilowatt hour kWh

Background and Objective

The 1,000 families living in the housing complexes called MORADA DO SALITRE and PRAIA DO RODEADOURO that are part of PMCMV (Minha Casa Minha Vida = Program to Fund Housing for Poor and Low-Income Families), both located in the city of Juazeiro, in the state of Bahia, had no hope of development although they had recently purchased a house. The families that had come from other places and who were characterized as low-income families were re-allocated to a single location and, because of that, there was a lack of day care centers, schools, a social network and income expectations. Basically, the families survived on the incentives of public policies on income distribution and labor in agriculture. In the midst of this precarious financial situation, the families could not even pay the complexes' expenses to maintain and improve the two communities, or even to ensure food security.

Actions and Implementation

The 'Income and Power Generation' project was funded by CAIXA's FSA (SocialEnvironmental Fund), AC FSA CAIXA No. 0077.069/2012, and it comprised the installation of more than nine thousand photovoltaic panels and six wind turbines. Brasil Solair was appointed to handle the technical and mechanical aspects of the entire Income and Power Generation Project. It managed the training of the local leaders, organized the general and street meetings and played an educational role to ensure the full cooperation and support of the Project's beneficiaries. Brasil Solair helped manage the work done in the Community Kiosks, where the "Social Sessions" took place to answer questions about the Income and Power Generation Project. Brasil Solair not only ensured the effective generation of electricity in a micro-distributed manner, but also looked into all the social aspects of those that benefited from the project, by providing pedagogues, social workers and psychologists for guidance and clarification.

Outcomes and Impacts

The Income Generation and Renewable Energy Project was founded on four key points: The Economic Dimension; the Social Dimension; the Environmental Dimension and the Institutional Dimension. The proposal for all the work done by BRASIL SOLAIR was based on the four points above. The economic dimension has been addressed, because the complex is providing a regulated product, which is highly attractive for being renewable, coming from a solar matrix and which allows the generation of an additional income to the beneficiary residents. The social dimension has been addressed by the methodological and participatory proposal, which promotes the involvement of all the residents, to build and validate, collectively, the Project's construction stages. The environmental dimension was addressed, because renewable energy is being generated by means of solar panels. The institutional issues were addressed through the partnership with various public and private stakeholders in all phases of the Project.

Gender and Social Inclusivity

a) Transferability:The Income Generation and Renewable Energy Project in the MCMV Program was a pilot project. The Project satisfies all the conditions to be reapplied to other communities of the MCMV Program - considering that it meets all the requirements related to the sustainable development of human settlements and improvement to the environmental management, with a view to ensuring the rational use of environmental resources without compromising the conditions for meeting the needs of future generations. b) Transferred Best Price: (This section applies only to those who are submitting their practice specifically for one of the two awards earmarked for best practice transfers.)

Innovative Initiative

The first major lesson learned is that it is important to have a discussion about how to divide the income that is generated - that is, the Governance Rules - in the beginning of the process, before the money is actually paid to the community. The second lesson is that the residents must open bank accounts at Caixa Econômica Federal early in the process, to expedite the depositing of the revenues generated by the project. The third lesson is that SEBRAE (Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises) must be called to provide assistance as early as possible in the process. The fourth lesson is that smaller groups must be appointed to talk about projects of social interest and the general meeting must be use as the last resort to address issues that could not be addressed by the smaller groups. The last lesson is that, starting in the system planning stage, there must be active cooperation among the various public and private actors involved in the project: FSA (Fundo Socioambiental Caixa = Caixa's Social-Environmental Fund), CEF (Caixa Econômica Federal Bank), The City Government, ANEEL (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica = The National Electricity Authority), Coelba and BRASIL SOLAIR.

Conclusion

ANEEL's new regulations allowed the Income Generation and Renewable Energy Project to become a reality. Support was given for the notarization of the minutes of the General Meetings in which the Managers of the Morada do Salitre and Praia do Rodeadouro housing complexes were elected, and in which there was the approval of the new Bylaws that established the "rules for the division of funds originating from the sale of energy." All the documentation required by the new Bylaws and by the Notary's Office was provided and duly registered with the Notarial Office, in order to allow the continuation to the next stages of the Project. References: No. Title Source Author Publication Title Volume Number Date Page Number 1 Deforestation is considered one of the causes of climate change http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2015/05/desmatamento- Edit 2 Lines - Episode 5 - Solar: the energy that transforms lives YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpdeUSNOXo4 Edit 3 The largest solar power plant on residential rooftops in Juazeiro will be featured in Globo's Fantastico TV Show http://www.geraldojose.com.br/index.php?sessao=noticia&cod_n Edit 4 Income Generation and Renewable Energy Project of Brasil Solair Canal YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOiJb39RNZg