IBERDROLA SPENDS €52 MILLION ON RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN BRAZIL IN 2009 74% MORE THAN THE YEAR BEFORE
Through its involvement in the “Luz para Todos” programme
- Investee Neoenergia has connected more than two million people to the grid in Brazil
- The group has laid nearly 82,000 kilometres of electricity cables and more that a million posts several Brazilian states
IBERDROLA spent €52.3 million on its programmes to electrify rural and deprived areas in Brazil in 2009, an increase of 74.3% from the previous year. The work was carried out through investees Celpe, Coelba and Cosern, which belong to the Neoenergia Group.
Between 2004 and 2009, the company has connected more than two million people (2,097,000) in Brazil’s rural areas to the grid, giving priority to populations with a Human Development Index (HDI) below the national average. IBERDROLA has achieved this milestone by installing nearly 82,000 kilometres of electricity cables and more than 1.1 million posts. Just in Bahia, Brazil’s most heavily populated state, the company generated 8,000 direct jobs last year.
The initiatives form part of the “Luz para Todos” (Power for All) programme promoted by Brazil's Ministry of Energy since 2003. This programme has a total budget of over €8.5 billion, of which more than €6.0 billion are contributed by participating utilities and the governments of the various states where it is being conducted.
The ultimate objective is to contribute to the economic and social development of these areas, where 90% of families annual incomes are less than three minimum salaries, and 80% live in rural areas. Since the programme’s launch, more that 11.3 million Brazilians have gained access to electricity.
Nevertheless, IBERDROLA’s target is not just to connect the poorest areas of Brazil to the electricity grid, but it is also to lay the foundations for sustainable development in these regions. To this end, the “Energia Verde” (Green Energy) project was created. Its aim is to encourage the rational use of energy by Neoenergia customers and protect the environment by offsetting emissions from each household with reforestation programmes.
IBERDROLA in Brazil
Through Neoenergia, IBERDROLA is the leading electricity distributor in northeastern Brazil, with over a 40% share of the regional market. Consolidated EBITDA in Brail amounted to €498.6 million in 2009, representing 58% of the total contribution by Latin America. IBERDROLA distributed over 11.9 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) of energy in Brazil in 2009, 3.9% higher than in 2008.