The impasse of isolated decarbonization and the regulatory bet on Amazonian territories

Debate at Amazon On highlights flaws in urban electrification models and details the use of a regulatory sandbox to test community generation and renewable sources in the Legal Amazon.

Approximately 3.5 million people live without reliable access to electricity or depend entirely on isolated systems powered by fossil fuels in the Legal Amazon. This figure exposes the bottleneck in serving remote, riverside, indigenous, and quilombola communities. The reliance on waterway transport for fuel and equipment delivery, combined with high tariffs and low Human Development Index (HDI) scores in the served municipalities, highlights that traditional expansion models in the electricity sector have failed to reach the region's interior.

Opening the discussions on the energy transition in the region, panel moderator and Superintendent at the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), André Ruelli, stressed the urgency of integrating technical solutions with regulatory and economic viability. "The challenge of the energy transition in the Amazon is not limited to replacing generation sources; it requires building institutional and regulatory frameworks that ensure operational sustainability where conventional logistics fail," stated Ruelli.

Historically, policy formulation for the sector responded predominantly to an urban logic, lacking direct consultation with beneficiaries and disregarding the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent outlined in Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO). "Top-down rules do not work on the ground," noted Camila Bomfim, Economic Regulation Specialist at ANEEL. "Without the structured participation of stakeholders—communities and traditional peoples—in building economic and regulatory viability adapted to the local reality, we end up with incompatible tariffs and projects that cannot be sustained over time." As a result, informal solutions adopted within the territories remain outside the regulated system, lacking access to public policies.

From a technological infrastructure perspective, Roberto Valer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Huawei Digital Power Brazil, emphasized that innovation for isolated systems relies on integrating battery storage with renewable energy sources customized for local climate and humidity conditions. Meanwhile, Fernando Maia, Vice President of Regulation and Institutional Relations at Grupo Energisa, addressed the complexity of maintaining public services in hard-to-reach areas, advocating for regulatory incentives tailored to the operational reality of regional distributors. From an academic perspective, Nilton Pereira da Silva, Director of the Amazonian Energy Development Center (CDEAM/UFAM), reinforced the need for local capacity building and technological development aligned with the productive potential of the forest.

To address this scenario, ANEEL detailed the "Energias da Floresta" (Energies of the Forest) project, structured as a regulatory sandbox backed by Supplementary Law No. 182/2021. The initiative allows for the temporary flexibility of rules to test community generation, distribution, and management models. "The sandbox is the mechanism that enables the State to test solutions alongside society, managing risks and gathering evidence before permanently altering regulations," explained Bomfim.

Key areas of the pilot projects include training community energy agents, establishing suitable tariff structures, integrating energy efficiency into productive activities, and adopting technologies for electric mobility and clean cooking. The operational framework relies on collaborative governance uniting regulators, utilities, universities, civil society, and community leaders. Following the close of Public Consultation No. 02/2026, the publication of the final regulations will guide the First Call for Pilot Projects, expected in October 2026, with collected data informing future normative adjustments across the Amazon Basin.