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November 1st will be marked by peaceful protests against the rejection of new solar energy projects on the grounds of flow reversal in front of the headquarters of energy distributors such as CPFL in Campinas (São Paulo) and RGE in São Leopoldo (Rio Grande do Sul).In recent days, solar energy integrators and consumers have organized a peaceful demonstration in front of the headquarters of the energy utilities CPFL, in Campinas, São Paulo, and RGE, in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul. The objective is to protest against the rejection of new solar energy projects on the grounds of reverse flow. The “Solar Energy Without Blockages” initiative is organized by Aliança Solar, the National Institute of Clean Energy (INEL) and the Free Solar Movement, as well as distributors of solar energy solutions, such as BelEnergy, Bold Energy, Sou Energy, among others.
The president of the Free Solar Movement, Hewerton Martins, told pv magazine that energy concessionaires are not complying with Law 14,300 and have begun an automatic rejection of projects larger than 7.5 kW. “Even lower projects, such as 4.5 kW, for example, do not have a form filled out in which the consumer accepts that they will never share the credit with another consumer unit,” he explains.
“What we are trying to do is express the outrage of consumers who no longer have the right to generate their own energy,” Martins continues. “Especially at a time when consumers are being hit with the red flag energy tariff, which includes expensive thermal power plants, when the only alternative they had was to generate their own energy, which had already been taxed.”
The next demonstration is planned for Brasilia, in the Federal District, with an even greater mobilization of members of the sector. The date will be set after the regional demonstrations and the alignment between all the presidents of the state fronts of distributed generation (DG) that make up the Solar Alliance.
pv magazine has already reported that the solar market has seen a significant increase in rejections of microgeneration projects due to reversal of power flow by energy distributors.
In addition to the in-person demonstration, Aliança Solar intends to collect signatures from integrating companies on a document entitled “Demonstration in defense of the right of consumers to generate their own energy” and participate in the public consultation on Bill 624/2023, which establishes the Basic Energy Income Program (Rebe). The bill was approved in June by the Chamber of Deputies and is awaiting a vote in the Senates Social Affairs Committee, with a favorable opinion for its approval.
According to the protest organizers, the bill is essential to expand access to solar energy for low-income families and improve legislation on distributed generation.
For the president of the Free Solar Movement, consumers are already paying the cost of using the grid and, not satisfied, they are now blocking consumer access by rejecting projects. “The solar sector is not asking for any profits at all, but it has been sacrificed over the years, even with the approval of Law 14,300. Unfortunately, neither the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) nor the electricity companies comply with the law in force, so the motivation of PL 624 is to ensure that the law is fully complied with.”
To demonstrate how Aliança Solar is acting in defense of the sector on state distributed generation fronts, Martins also said that tomorrow, October 29, he will represent the sector at a public hearing at the Mines and Energy Commission, in Brasilia, to debate PL 671/2024, whose author is federal deputy Delegate Marcelo Freitas, which proposes preventing energy distributors and permit holders from participating in the DG market. |
